


This Is Not Alright

by Flow232



Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Confusion, M/M, Masturbation, Semi Dirty Talk, Sexual Confusion, Sexual Dream, Sexual Tension, Smut, This ship needs more attention!, What Is Going On With Hughie Campbell?, messed up, more tags as we go along, poorly written smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27014467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flow232/pseuds/Flow232
Summary: Butcher was silent for a moment which gave Hughie some time to glance down at Butcher. He didn’t know how he never realized how hot Butcher was. His strong, muscular body structure basically made Hughie melt. Butcher’s fucking thick beard looked so goddamn sexy on his already captivating face. And did Hughie even have to mention those dark, deep, sexy brown eyes~Shit, this is not alright.
Relationships: Billy Butcher/Hughie Campbell, The Female l Kimiko Miyashiro/The Frenchman (Minor/Background)
Comments: 113
Kudos: 214





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. So this is my first fanfic of these two and I hope you find it at least decent lol. Also please read the whole thing if you're going to leave a critical comment since there is sort of a twist at the end so yeah. Enjoy :))
> 
> (Takes place after S2 E5)

Well, it turns out the Boys just can’t catch a break, can they?

After a harsh, and honestly painful, encounter with one of the Seven members, Black Noir, the gang was now required to go back to Butcher’s wife’s house to snap a photo or gather some evidence that Becca had a son with Homelander and proof that their son, Ryan, had all of the same abilities as Homelander.

Hughie sat in the passenger seat of the white van and sighed as he stared out the window with his hand resting underneath his chin. He just wanted Butcher to come back home with the Boys where they could finally figure out a plan to defeat Homelander, Stormfront, and the rest of the Seven, and Hughie also wanted to go back home so he could finally rest easy knowing that Butcher was alright and that he was safe from the Seven.

But of course, nothing ever went Hughie’s way.

M.M. drove the van as Hughie sat up front with him and Butcher sat in the back, no doubt devising a plan to not only get the proof of Ryan but to also get Becca back to him.

Hughie had never met Becca before, but hearing all the great things about her from Butcher, he had to wonder how someone like Becca fell for someone like Butcher. But then again it’s not like Butcher had always been a serial killer. Hughie liked to imagine the two being really happy together when Butcher wasn’t... well the way he is today. But since he is the way he is, Hughie had to admit that he just doesn’t see Becca running back into that serial killer’s arms. Especially not with her eight-year-old son.

While he felt like no matter what plan Butcher was trying to hatch to get Becca back, Hughie just knew that things just wouldn’t work out between them. Even though Hughie did feel bad thinking about it.

Hughie could understand Becca’s point though. She and Ryan would never be safe if they went with Butcher. Butcher would no doubt despise the kid and might even try to kill him a few times. So, there’s no way Becca would come back to him just under those circumstances alone.

But Hughie figured why get Butcher worked up in saying that Becca would never come back to him? That would probably earn him another hard punch to the face. If Butcher even limited himself to just a punch.

Hughie then casually turned his head to look at Butcher who was sitting down tapping his foot repeatedly and fooling around with some sort of pig-ax.

Hughie kept his eyes trailed on Butcher for a good couple of seconds before the serial killer looked up from the pig-ax and returned Hughie’s look and Hughie started getting nervous. Butcher shot him a quick smirk before turning his attention back to the pig-ax. Hughie returned it with a smile that he held much longer than Butcher did with the smirk he gave Hughie.

Hughie was very grateful that he and Butcher were on good terms with each other again. Sure, his jaw still hurt like hell after that hard, painful, and sharp punch to the face. But Butcher did apologize, genuinely meaning it, and even saved him from Starlight and Black Noir with both of them nearly ending Hughie’s life.

So with Butcher saving him from two really bad ways to die, of course, Hughie had to forgive him already.

Hughie still wasn’t completely sure why Butcher had called him his canary earlier. When M.M. told Hughie to tell him exactly what Butcher told him over the phone, he failed to mention the canary part to Hughie.

Hughie had wanted to ask Butcher about it at the house they were in but Hughie never got to for two reasons. One, there was just no time with Black Noir right on their tails. And two, Hughie figured the answer would just be ‘forget about it’ if he had asked Butcher with a ‘cunt’ added in there for good measures.

So Hughie dropped it.

~

Several hours later still on the road, M.M. pulled over to a small motel at around 1:30 am. Everyone was exhausted, especially M.M. who had driven nonstop the past eight hours with a few pit stops so the boys could take a quick piss.

M.M. parked the van upfront and left Hughie and Butcher alone in the van to check-in. Hughie and Butcher, both really exhausted, didn’t say anything to one another and waited silently for M.M. to come back.

After a slow five minutes, M.M. walked back out to the van and got in and looked at Hughie and Butcher. “Here’s the deal,” M.M. began, “They only got two rooms available, one with a king-sized bed and another with two twin beds, so since I drove you two for the past eight hours I am getting my own room and you two are bunking together. I already have your key.”

Both Hughie and Butcher were way too exhausted to object, so they both nodded tiredly and Butcher took the key from M.M.’s hand and got out of the van.

Hughie followed Butcher and stepped out of the van as well as M.M. and the three headed to their rooms. M.M.’s room was down the hall from Hughie and Butcher’s room so he continued to walk down to his room once they got to Butcher and Hughie’s.

The room was exactly what you would expect from a small motel. There were two twin beds which pretty much took up over half of the room, there was a small desk with a notepad and pen on top of it and a chair pushed in underneath it, a wooden dresser with a TV on top of it, and a bathroom that only consisted of a toilet, a sink, and a shower.  
Hughie and Butcher didn’t have anything to change into, so both of them just collapsed on the twin beds wearily.

Neither of them fell asleep right away, so they both just lied on their backs and stared up at the dark ceiling and let their minds ease into their thoughts.

The last time Hughie was at a motel like this, he slept with Annie once more. Now that he thought more into it, why did it feel so wrong all of a sudden? Thinking about it, Annie nearly killed him in front of Homelander, which in all honesty she had no other choice. Hughie would’ve supposedly been a dead man anyway. So might as well let Annie live. But then after everything seemed to go back great for the two of them, Annie dumps him again for no other reason other than the fact that she just can’t do this and that apparently they were all alone.

Do what? What can’t you do anymore? If you’re going to break up with me yet again, why can’t I at least get a specific answer? Or a real reason? And what does that mean that we’re all alone? We don’t have to be alone if you were to just stay. Hughie thought silently.

Hughie turned his head and looked at Butcher who’s eyes were trailed up at the ceiling just as Hughie’s were a moment ago. At this point, Butcher was really the only person he could trust. Which was strange to think since just a week ago Hughie could all but not trust Butcher in the slightest. But after making up with him and Butcher saving his life countless timeless, some just earlier that day, Butcher really was the only person Hughie could trust nowadays.  
Butcher noticed Hughie staring at him and turned his head and locked eyes with Hughie. “What?” He questioned a bit roughly but was whispering.

Hughie replied with a shrug. “Nothing. I-I was just thinking. Like..” Hughie thought, “Why did you call me your canary today?”

Butcher looked down no-doubt in thought of how to reply. His eyes were kept on the floor for a couple of seconds before he looked back at Hughie. “Don’t worry about it, alright? If you really wanna know then ask M.M. tomorrow,” Butcher answered before turning his back to Hughie and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Hughie fell asleep as well a few minutes after deciding to put his thoughts and head to rest and got comfortable on the bed as he fell asleep as well.

~

Hughie opened his eyes back up a little later and turned his head to look at the digital clock on the bed stand saying that it was only 3:30 in the morning. Meaning that Hughie had only been asleep for two hours.

Hughie groaned a bit after attempting to fall back asleep but failing and sat up in the bed and rested his back against the back of the bed.

He heard some sheets being moved coming from Butcher’s bed and Hughie turned his head and looked in that direction and saw Butcher sitting up in his bed as well and rubbing his face with the palm of his hands.  
Butcher’s black-spikey hair was a mess on his head but Hughie found it… weirdly hot. Hughie didn’t think too much of it as he remained silent and kept his eyes on Butcher.

Butcher soon returned his look and sighed. “Couldn’t sleep I’m guessing?” Butcher asked him.

Hughie shook his head.

“Me neither,” Butcher replied, running his hands through his hair.

Hughie didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything and decided to let Butcher make the conversation. If he even wanted to have a conversation.

Butcher then placed his hands down and looked back at Hughie. “So, how did Starlight end up treating you?” Butcher asked him.

Hughie looked at him in confusion not remembering telling Butcher that Annie joined him and M.M. in looking for Liberty. Butcher picked up on Hughie’s looks and answered with, “M.M. told me earlier.”

Hughie nodded figuring that was pretty obvious and sighed thinking about it. “I mean… there’s nothing much to say. She came, we had fun, I think she remembered liking me because next thing you know we’re in bed together, but then literally the next day she asks to meet me at the Subway where she just breaks up with me leaving me with an ‘I just can’t do this anymore and we’re all alone.’ And now I have nobody,” Hughie explained with an unsettled look on his face the whole time he told Butcher.

Butcher remained silent as he listened to Hughie, of course relating to it in every way with Becca. Butcher locked eyes with Hughie and sighed, “Me too Hughie.”

The two remained silent for a good couple of minutes, but it wasn’t awkward or anything. They were both in deep thought. Hughie wasn’t sure what Butcher was thinking about, but for Hughie, he was thinking of how Butcher had been treating him lately.

Butcher never seemed hesitant when it came to saving Hughie’s life whenever he was about to be killed. Butcher was practically risking his own life every time he saved Hughie from a Supe, but that never seemed to stop him. Butcher was held by the throat against the wall by Black Noir, but he just seemed glad that he had saved Hughie. Why? Butcher had threatened his life countless times and now he isn't hesitant from saving it every single time even if it would cause him the risk of never seeing Becca again.

Hughie looked back at Butcher to find that Butcher was just sitting there staring at him while Hughie thunk.

Hughie being a little weirded out returned the look. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Hughie asked.

Butcher remained still after the question and Hughie thought Butcher wasn’t going to move or respond. But just a few moments later, Butcher suddenly got off the bed and walked over to Hughie and pressed his lips against his.

Hughie’s eyes went shut while his mind was currently scrambled all over the place. Hughie had no idea what was happening or even how this was happening. Butcher was kissing him. Billy Butcher was kissing him. Hughie didn’t know how to respond or even how to react. It wasn’t tongue-kiss, it was just a warm, soft kiss using only their lips. Hughie all of sudden found himself kissing the older man back. He didn’t know how or why he just did. Hughie never thought he was gay or was attracted to men before. He’s never attempted it. And he certainly didn’t think Butcher was gay at all. But now look at who’s the one kissing who. Hughie then had to wonder, was he really feeling these ways towards Butcher?

Butcher then backed away from the kiss slowly and Hughie opened his eyes along with Butcher and the two looked into each other’s eyes. Butcher held a blank stare as he looked at Hughie with his mouth opened ever so slightly to pant a little to catch his breath.

Hughie was dead silent as he looked at Butcher still completely lost in his head.

“Hughie?”

Hughie snapped out of his daze and focused back on Butcher. “Yeah... uh... I’m here I just um… you know I guess I… I guess that I… um~” Hughie had absolutely no idea what to say. Hughie didn’t know why he gulped when Butcher replied with a groan and looked back down at the younger man.

“Are you alright?” Butcher asked him.

Hughie figured his words wouldn’t mean shit since he could hardly speak words anyway after… what just happened. So, Hughie, rather quickly, replied with a nod.

Butcher was silent for a moment which gave Hughie some time to glance down at Butcher. He didn’t know how he never realized how hot Butcher was. His strong, muscular body structure basically made Hughie melt. Butcher’s fucking thick beard looked so goddamn sexy on his already captivating face. And did Hughie even have to mention those dark, deep, sexy brown eyes~

Shit, this is not alright.

Hughie didn’t know why he suddenly thought all these things toward Butcher. Or even how. Hughie never considered himself gay, and from what he remembered he’d never been attracted that way to another man before… but Butcher was now actually making Hughie question his sexuality.

Just by a kiss.

“Hughie,” Butcher called out calmly, bringing Hughie back into reality.

Hughie looked back at Butcher and stared there for a moment.

“Are you alright?” Butcher repeated once he knew he had Hughie’s attention.

Instead of replying, Hughie went forward and placed his lips back on Butcher’s, this time more passionately and deeply as Hughie lifted his hands to cup Butcher’s cheeks.

Hughie went flushed red at the cheeks when he noticed Butcher had almost immediately kissed him back, his tongue easily sliding past Hughie’s closed lips to get a better taste of him.

As Butcher did that, Hughie’s mind went scrambled as a sudden thought hit him. What about Becca? Why was Butcher all of a sudden kissing Hughie when from what Hughie remembered, he still loved his wife?

Shit, this is too much for Hughie to take in.

After a couple of moments, Butcher pulled away from Hughie’s lips and wrapped his hands around each of Hughie’s wrists which were still cupped to his cheeks.

“You’re tense,” Butcher pointed out almost softly.

Hughie opened his eyes and returned Butcher’s look and replied with a shrug. “I just… can’t think of a reason why you’d wanna kiss me. I mean what about Becca? Besides, I don’t even think me and you are gay. I just think~”

Hughie’s words were brought to a halt as Butcher sighed a bit and placed his hand over Hughie’s mouth.

“That’s your problem Hughie. You always overthink every little thing rather than just let things happen,” Butcher interjected.

Hughie didn’t say anything for Butcher was right… he was a hundred percent right.

Butcher continued once realizing Hughie had nothing to reply with. “So I’ll ask you this..” The tips of Butcher’s fingers slid underneath the hems of Hughie’s jeans. Hughie’s breath hitched when he realized what was happening. “Are you alright with this?”

Hughie took a long moment of silence as he continued to think. Think of all the terrible outcomes that could come if he let Butcher suck his dick. But then again, Butcher did just say that Hughie had to stop overthinking everything and that was exactly what he was doing now when he shouldn’t be. All Hughie had to do was reply with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to either give Butcher the clarification that he was alright with this or not. Hughie suddenly found himself putting his mind to rest as he thought, what’s the worst possible thing that could happen?

Hughie looked back at Butcher who was still patiently waiting for a response and Hughie nodded. “Yeah.. yeah this is fine,” Hughie told him assuringly.

Butcher leaned in and cupped one of Hughie’s cheeks as he kissed him soundly for a moment. “You sure?”

Hughie smiled a little giving Butcher the same look they have been giving each other for days and nodded.

Butcher smiled with his lips as he went down and undid Hughie’s pants and pulled them down to his knees along with his boxers.

Hughie placed his head on the pillows and looked up to the ceiling as he decided to just let it happen.

~

Hughie jolted himself awake and looked around the darkroom. Shit, this isn’t happening.

Hughie looked down and saw his pants were still fastened around his waist just as they were when he fell asleep. No, no this can’t be fucking happening.

Hughie looked next to him and saw the digital clock on the bed stand as it told him it was only 3:30 in the morning. Fuck.

Hughie looked at the bed next to him and saw Butcher still asleep with his back still turned to Hughie just as he was when he first fell asleep.

Hughie slapped his hands to his forehead as he suddenly came to grips with what was happening.

Hughie just had a sexual dream of Butcher nearly giving him a blowjob… _and Hughie wanted it._

This is not alright.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hughie has to get through the day even after that dream he had about Billy fucking Butcher. God, how was he even supposed to do this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So if you read the notes to my last chapter you'd know that this chapter wasn't supposed to be released until Saturday at 6 pm. But after reading all of your really nice comments and this getting more kudos and hits than I was expecting in just one day, it gave me the motivation to just type this whole thing up in like one day since it turns out I have no life like at all. Also, I'm going to be changing my update schedule around but more info on that at the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Hughie somehow managed to sleep the rest of the night without any more stupid fantasy dreams of goddamn Billy Butcher.

Hughie still had no idea why his mind betrayed him like that. Of all people in the world, his mind decided to imagine Billy Butcher nearly giving him a blowjob. Why? How? Hughie felt like he would never know.

From what Hughie could remember he’s never felt anything towards Butcher rather than just being friends. Sure, they’ve had a few small glances and looks that could maybe be confused for something else, but in reality, Hughie’s never even felt this way to a guy period. But now… fuck.

That strange and downright deranged dream Hughie had had just opened the door to hundreds of unneeded questions Hughie didn’t want to have to question. The main one, of course, being his sexuality.

Hughie knows he can’t be gay since he knows he’s attracted to girls, but with Butcher now entering the gate to that arena, Hughie didn’t know what to call himself anymore. Can he still even be straight after that dream?

What killed Hugie the most was the fact that he was still seeing the same sexy Butcher in reality that he did in his dream. He noticed his structure, his spikey hair, his eyes, and his huge hands. Hughie had to do something about this. He can’t be feeling these sorts of ways toward Butcher. Especially not now and especially not underneath the circumstances that they were all in.

No, Hughie had to stop.

Hughie was awoken at around eight in the morning by Butcher as he was shaken awake lightly by the shoulder. Hughie groaned slightly upon being awoken and he sat up and rubbed his eyes and yawned. “What?”

“Oi Hughie, let’s go we have to be leaving now,” Butcher reported as he walked away from the side of Hughie’s bed which he was leaning over. “Come on we don’t have all day now Hughie.”

God, why did Hughie have butterflies in his stomach when Butcher said his name with his deep sexy New Zealand accent?

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Hughie assured as he slid out of his bed and got on his feet.

Butcher looked at him from the other side of the room and Hughie noticed he hadn’t changed his clothes from the previous night with him still wearing his long black trench coat as usual with a black shirt and dark jeans, and it seemed he didn’t bother to comb his hair since he still had the same spikey mess on top of his head that Hughie had fallen for hard in his dream. And was now falling for in reality as well.

“M.M.’s already got us a table at a diner nearby. Figured we’d eat now since we’re not going to again for a while… Hughie?”

Hughie almost immediately snapped his eyes back at Butcher’s eyes since the whole time Butcher was talking Hughie’s eyes were wandering all over his body practically tracing Butcher’s structure.

“What? Oh no yeah… that sounds great. Wait, why would that sound great if it's just breakfast? No that sounds fine...shit but I’m not even the one paying for it and if it just sounds fine I’d be rude… fuck I um… it sounds~”

Hughie was thankfully cut off with his rambling at the sound of Butcher giving him a low chuckle as he walked over to Hughie and patted his shoulder making Hughie want to scream.

“You really are something Hughie,” Butcher chuckled, giving him the classic Butcher smirk as he moved away from him.

Hughie could feel his heart rate beat even faster now… when all Butcher did was smirk and pat his shoulder. Hughie could honestly hit himself right then and there.

“Thanks..” Hughie awkwardly replied fidgeting with his shirt when feeling he needed to put his hands somewhere.

“Now come on now. It’d be rude to keep M.M. waiting,” Butcher remarked keeping that fucking smirk on his face as he opened the motel room door.  
It took Hughie a moment to realize Butcher was holding it open for him and Hughie gave him an even awkwarder ‘thanks’ than earlier and walked past him with his eyes straight ahead and his hands shoved deep in his jean pockets.

Butcher nodded as he closed the door behind him and walked with Hughie outside. They were on the third floor so they decided to take the elevator which couldn’t have been a worse decision on Hughie’s part. Both of them had nothing to say to each other and they were alone in the small area both of which took their own sides. Hughie tried his best to not let his eyes trail on Butcher every few seconds but he was doing a terrible job at it and nearly placed his hands on his head to force himself to look straight ahead. Hughie even remembered Butcher giving a noisy sigh in the elevator which just made Hughie’s heartbeat even faster and he had no idea why.

Hughie couldn’t have been more grateful when the elevator doors finally slid open and Hughie wasted absolutely no time in getting out of there.

The diner was only across the street so the two decided to just walk there. For that reason and the fact that M.M. had already taken the car to drive there himself.

Once they arrived at the small diner, the young hostess led them to M.M.’s booth who was sitting there by himself reading some sort of ‘People’ magazine.

“Oi M.M., hope we didn’t keep you waiting,” Butcher smirked, granting him an eye roll from M.M. Hughie slid in the booth across from M.M. and couldn’t have been more nervous when Butcher slid in right next to him.

_Keep it together Hughie. Keep it together Hughie. Keep it together Hughie._

“Yeah well check this out,” M.M. replied presenting the front cover of his magazine to Butcher and Hughie.

The front cover had a picture of Homelander and Stormfront together holding hands while making googly eyes at one another with a caption underneath them reading ‘Love at First Sight.’

“Bloody Hell,” Butcher groaned quietly sipping the already made cup of coffee in front of him. Hughie didn’t know why this didn’t surprise him that much but rather made him nervous since he’s heard from Kimiko that Stormfront is almost nearly as powerful and evil and messed up as Homelander and them together could cause for a real shit show for The Boys.

“M-hm, got together last night when Black Noir came and kicked all our asses,” M.M. replied. Hughie took a shaky breath since for him that obviously wasn’t the only thing that had happened last night.

Butcher just shook his head as he placed his coffee down and wiped his coffee-stained lip with his sleeve which Hughie made the mistake to watch him do for it just made his breathing hitch.  
“How’s your shoulder by the way?” Butcher asked as he looked at M.M. hardly noticing Hughie and M.M. replied with a shrug as he rubbed his shoulder with his hand. After getting stabbed there by Black Noir, M.M. was quick to bandage himself up, but that didn’t result in it immediately feeling better. “It’s fine,” M.M. answered.

Butcher nodded for a moment before shaking his head and looked in between Hughie and M.M. “You boys shouldn’t have tracked me down. You just put yourselves in more danger,” Butcher dryly noted them.

Hughie looked at Butcher as he quickly replied with shaking his head. “Like we had a choice, Butcher. Without M.M. and his traps, Black Noir would’ve wasted no time in killing you without even getting a chance to reason with him,” Hughie claimed, his heart beating faster as Butcher returned his look.

“And what about you? You nearly got killed twice by that cunt. If both of you would’ve just stayed back in New York we all would’ve been fine,” Butcher asserted.

“We need you on the team Butcher. If me and Hughie hadn’t come after you, you wouldn’t have come back even if Black Noir didn’t kill you,” M.M. pointed out gruffly, “And let's not forget that you need us just as much as we need you. Especially Hughie.”

Hughie suddenly stopped in his tracks as Butcher turned back to face him and his eyes trailed down at Hughie, his eyes almost looking apologetic. Hughie’s eyes remained on Butcher’s and neither pulled away from each other for a couple of moments. Hughie was breathing deeply and heavily but while Butcher didn’t notice, M.M. raised an eyebrow at the expression before Butcher finally looked away and looked back at M.M., Hughie’s breathing not going down at all.

“Fine,” Butcher admitted before placing a warm hand on Hughie’s shoulder and rubbing it soothingly, “Thank you for coming after me.”

“You’re welcome,” M.M. quickly replied before Hughie got a chance to speak.

Hughie’s eyes were kept on Butcher for he didn’t remove his hands for several moments. Those moments for Hughie however felt like hours. Hughie then suddenly felt something within his jeans that he knew he didn’t need right now.

Fuck, just calm down and maybe it’ll go away on its own… Hughie hopelessly thought.

Just then an older, thin waitress came over to take their orders, Hughie calmed down hoping this would distract him and he wouldn’t be feeling… what he was feeling right now.

“Hi, y’all. What will we be having today?”

“Just sunny-side up with a side of grits, hold the butter,” M.M. ordered.

Butcher snickered from where he was sitting and shook his head. “Boring cunt. I’ll have the french toast with a hard-boiled egg and a side of sausage.”

M.M. rolled his eyes at the tease as the waitress was quick to jot down their orders. Hughie was too distracted however when a sudden fantasy hit his mind of Butcher eating something else than a sausage.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, his jeans were just getting tighter and tighter.

“And for you sir?” The waitress asked, bringing Hughie back from his fantasy. Hughie knew sitting this close to Butcher with his jeans being as tight as they were he knew he couldn’t be here for much longer without spilling.

“Um, just toast with scrambled eggs,” he replied, his breathing quickened.

“God, you’re even worse than M.M.,” Butcher stated with a sarcastic disapproving look on his face, which didn’t help Hughie whatsoever.

Once the waitress left Hughie realized he seriously had to go. “Excuse me,” he told Butcher as he started scooting down. Butcher got the message and sat up from the booth to let Hughie rush to the restroom.

When Hughie was in the restroom he was quick to scan it and saw nobody was in there. He looked at himself in the mirror of the sinks and looked down and saw, yep, he was hard.

Hughie looked around a moment making double sure that no one was in there and took his cock out of his pants and started massaging it slowly, his mind only set on Butcher.

God, why was this happening to him? Why was Hughie now masturbating and getting hard for Billy fucking Butcher? Because of one stupid dream he had?

Still, though, that didn’t stop Hughie from imagining Butcher’s hand wrapped around his hard as fuck cock and doing the work for him.

Hughie stepped back until his back was against the wall as he started jerking himself off and started moaning. His eyes were squeezed shut as his head was leaned back the furthest it could possibly go.

While his head was saying to hold everything in his tracks and stop doing this, his whole body was going against it as his heart was beating out of his chest and his moaning only getting louder the more he tugged.

It took a couple of minutes but he finally came on his hand and Hughie both sighed in relief and disappointment.

Hughie instantly shoved his empty cock back in his pants as he went over to the sink and washed his hands from the cum.

The door was then suddenly opened and closed and Hughie turned to see who it was, scared that it might be Butcher.  
Luckily, it wasn’t and it turned out to be M.M. But unluckily he did not have a very pleased look on his face as he entered the restroom and his arms were crossed.

“What’s up?” Hughie replied as he turned off the sink and grabbed a napkin to wipe his hands.

“What’s going on with you? All morning your breath has been hitching, your heart has been pounding, and you keep on making looks at Butcher. Not to mention that you’ve been in here for seven minutes coincidentally after Butcher had rubbed his hand on your shoulder,” M.M. explained keeping his arms crossed and his eyes still glaring at the younger man.

Hughie remained silent for a moment both surprised and not shocked at all that M.M. had noticed. Hughie sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror debating whether or not to tell M.M. the dream he had had last night.

“Tell me what’s going on with you,” M.M. growled a bit, clearly not in the mood to be playing games with him.

Hughie had no more time to think as he thought ‘fuck it’ and turned to face M.M.

“Alright fine. Last night I had a dream of Butcher kissing me and then almost giving me a blowjob before I woke up and cut my dream short and now all I can see is that sexy Butcher I saw in my dream and I know this is wrong but I don’t know what to do,” Hughie spit out hastily in just one breath.  
M.M.'s hands went to his head as his eyes widened. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” he groaned quietly before throwing one of his hands to his side and another pointing at Hughie. “Hughie whatever shit this is right now, you’ve gotta shove it deep, deep down do you understand? Fucking Starlight was bad enough but Butcher is a whole different story. Just don’t focus on it or better yet, just stop it okay? Trust me Hughie. Fucking Butcher would be just as bad as when you fucked Starlight if not worse alright?”

Hughie nodded as he listened to M.M. He was right, there would probably be hundreds of consequences for continuing to feel these ways about his friend/partner.

Hughie looked at M.M. and nodded once more with his arms crossed. “Yeah, yeah you’re right. I’ll try and shove it down…” Hughie promised, even though he wasn’t sure yet if that was a promise he planned on keeping or not.

M.M. nodded. “Good… look why don’t we just get through breakfast without thinking about this alright? We can talk more about it later,” M.M. assured, “Besides, might as well eat now since if things go the way I think they’re going to go with Becca, we’re gonna have to wait until we get back to New York to eat lunch.”

Hughie nodded but remained silent since he knew M.M. was right about Becca probably kicking them out with or without the evidence of Ryann.

“Thanks for telling me~” M.M. consoled even though it almost sounded like he was supposing more than consoling.  
“No problem…” Hughie replied before walking past M.M. and back to the booth. Their food was already on the table and Butcher had hardly touched any of his food other than his french toast.

Butcher saw Hughie come back and gave him a smirk as he sat up and let Hughie through. “‘Bout time,” Butcher chuckled, “What took you so long?”

“I’m a shy pee-er in public bathrooms…” Hughie made up, even though it was technically true.

Butcher nodded as he slid in back next to him. “Well, why don’t you eat up and we’ll be out of here in no time,” Butcher patted his back as he continued to eat his food.

Hughie nodded. Hopefully, they would be out of here in no time. At least before Butcher started eating his sausages.

Shit.

This is not alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. So about the update schedule, I decided that I will release two chapters randomly between Monday-Friday every week at 6 pm. This way it gives me more flexibility to write and do my everyday stuff as well while not leaving you guys hanging. Hope you liked it :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Butcher, Hughie, and MM finally arrive at Becca's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so with that update schedule. Yeah, I've decided to just chug that in the trash now since I've just been writing so much and so much quicker than I have expected. So for now on I'm just going to post at least two times a week but probably more. So I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

The Boys finished up their breakfasts and MM paid for the check since he was the only one who remembered his wallet and the three were back on the road heading to Becca’s house that Butcher had assured them he knew exactly where it was.

Hughie and MM decided to just trust Butcher knew what he was doing so the two sat back as Butcher took the wheel and drove the vehicle.

Hughie sat in the back after taking MM’s words to heart. Hughie did need to stop all of this. These fantasies, getting hard, finding Butcher sexy as fuck… shit, he was doing terrible at it so far.

But even though he completely agreed with MM that all of these feelings and such had to stop, Hughie didn’t know how to just tell his heart and mind to just go back to falling for Annie and leave Butcher as a friend. After all, how could he just tell his mind to stop when he still didn’t have an answer for  _ why  _ he was suddenly feeling these ways toward Butcher.

Speaking of Annie, she hasn’t even come to Hughie’s mind all morning. All morning he had been fantasizing and going mentally crazy for Butcher that he almost forgot about the girl he was apparently in love with.

But to be fair, what did it even matter? Annie had dumped him for the second or third time just yesterday and Hughie was still crawling back to her. For what? Just to be dumped by her yet again? Just to be miserable and upset all the way up until Annie would go back with him just to dump him  _ again  _ the following day? 

God, Hughie was so stupid. 

Hughie thought that Annie was once the most amazing girl in the world, but now that he was finally opening his eyes, he knew he could do better than her. Well, at least with someone who wouldn’t dump him all the time…  _ he is not thinking about Butcher! _

Now it looked like Annie was gone for good so what was even the point in still thinking about it? 

Hughie sighed as leaned back and got more comfortable in his seat and looked up at the ceiling of the van. What Hughie needed was just time to himself. A small, maybe hour or an hour and a half to himself. Where there was no Butcher, no Annie, no Homelander, or no anyone so Hughie could just go through and sort out his thoughts independently without anyone else telling him what was right or wrong or what he couldn’t do or what he should do. Just by himself, on his own like any other human being who was in these sorts of situations. Where when Hughie could think, all his minds wouldn’t come down instantaneously and he could take his time for once.

Man, just thinking about it made Hughie just wanna go to that solitary place right now.

But, as always, nothing would ever went Hughie’s way.

Just then, the van came to a sudden halt and Hughie looked around and looked through one of the windows in the back of the vehicle and saw they stopped in some sort of forest.

“Okay, what is this?” Hughie heard MM ask from the passenger seat and turned his head to look at the two.

Butcher took one of his many guns in hand and loaded it as he replied and placed the gun in the back of his waistband. “Well, we can’t just park in front of her house. I mean, we’re on top of Homelander’s shit list, ring a bell?”

MM groaned a bit but silently admitted that Butcher had a point there and grabbed a gun of his own.

Hughie didn’t know what he was supposed to do exactly. There were several guns in the back of the van but Hughie didn’t know if he should grab one or go in unarmed since he was shit at shooting a gun anyway.

Hughie was then caught off guard when Butcher came around the back and threw the doors to the back of the van opened and climbed in to grab a few more weapons.

Hughie stayed in his seat as he watched Butcher pick up a crowbar and a pix-ax and brought them to his face, silently debating which one to go with.

Hughie wasn’t quite sure why they were packing so many weapons. They just got there and there was no way Homelander would find them  _ so  _ quickly… right?

“Are you just going to sit there all day, princess?”

Hughie snapped up and looked at Butcher as he chose the crowbar and placed the pig-ax back on the floor and looked back at Hughie with a raised eyebrow. 

Hughie suddenly felt neurotic as he sat up and immediately joined Butcher on the ground. Hughie didn’t know what to do as he deciding to start fiddling through the several weapons on the ground carelessly and hastily, his heart beating just like that as well. Fuck, why was he so nervous?

Hughie then stopped at his movements when Butcher placed a hand on his shoulder signaling him to stop moving around which was exactly what Hughie did as he looked up from the ground and met Butcher’s eyes.

“Calm down mate. Just bringing you back to reality. Looked like you were dazing off,” Butcher consoled him with that smirk on his lips that drove Hughie crazy. 

That calmed Hughie down a little, but his heart was still beating out of his chest. 

Butcher kept the smirk on his face as he took his hand back from Hughie’s shoulder and took a handgun he found on the floor and handed it to Hughie.

Hughie was hesitant upon taking it from Butcher, but almost instantly took it when Butcher lifted his hand that was carrying the gun more toward Hughie.

“You’re gonna need it,” Butcher advised with a wink that made Hughie nearly melt.

With his crowbar leaning against his shoulder, Butcher jumped out of the van and stood there waiting for Hughie.

Hughie was quick to follow, but maybe too quick for he didn’t see what he was stepping on and tripped on the handle of the pig-ax that Butcher had left on the floor of the van causing him to fall out of the van.

Butcher took action quickly though and dropped the crowbar on the ground and caught Hughie with his hands gripping right between Hughie’s ribs and hips.

Hughie’s arms went for Butcher’s shoulders as he caught his breath slowly. Hughie suddenly started staring in those dark, deep brown eyes of Butcher’s. Big miskate. If Hughie’s heart wasn’t beating hastily before, it was now a completely different story. His cheeks were flushed red against his own will and he was praying to god that Butcher didn’t notice.

“Hughie are you alright?” Butcher asked readjusting his friend to get him to stand upright, their arms remaining in place.

It took Hughie a moment to reply for he was still looking into those goddamn sexy eyes of Butcher’s... 

_ God Hughie, stop it! _

“No... yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’m fine uh- th-thank you,” Hughie faltered through his words as he removed his arms back to his side.

Butcher nodded chuckling a bit. “Just be more careful,” Butcher told him as he walked over to MM.

Hughie remained where he was, his cheeks still hot and red from a moment again. Hughie then took a couple of seconds to realize what just happened.

Hughie had tripped and literally fell into Butcher’s arms. And considering the state he was in over Butcher… he did not need this right now.

God, Hughie was way,  _ way _ too over his head about all of this… how did he just realize that now?

~

Hughie and MM cautiously followed Butcher, remaining on guard the whole time. For you never know when Homelander could be lurking near, so might as well be safe. Even though let’s be honest, their weapons wouldn’t do fuck against Homelander.

After several climbs of steel walls and going through trails of nothing but trees and grass, they finally made it to an honestly very quiet, and dare Hughie say it, tranquil neighborhood. Almost as if it was deserted. 

Butcher did know what he was doing right?

“Alright boys, we’re here,” Butcher announced when he walked up to the doorsteps of one of the houses.

Hughie and MM stayed a few steps behind him with MM clenching his gun tightly in his hand.

Hughie looked directly at Butcher as he saw him run his fingers through his black spikey hair and he turned around to face Hughie and handed him his crowbar. “Take that for me will ya mate? Thanks,” Butcher smirked giving Hughie another wink before turning back around.

Hughie started blushing once more which Butcher didn’t notice but MM did and slapped his forehead and sighed in disapproval.

“C’mon man,” MM sighed looking at Hughie.

Hughie turned to look at MM but then looked back down and shook his head. “I know, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

MM simply shook his head figuring they would just continue this later.

Butcher took a couple of shaky breaths clearly nervous about ringing the doorbell but soon did bring himself to do so and he stood back and waited for someone to answer it.

A few moments passed before the door was opened and a small figure was there inside opening the door.

Butcher looked down at the young figure and promptly recognized him as the reason Becca broke up with him in the first place and snarled at the kid.

The kid didn’t look too pleased to see him either and raised a questioning brow at Butcher as he turned his head. “Mom!”

Just then, a young woman came into view rather quickly and picked the boy up in her arms. “Ryan, what have I told you about opening the door…” The woman’s words were trailed off when she saw Butcher in the doorway. The woman looked at Butcher up and down as if not believing he was actually back.

“What are you doing here?” The woman questioned him.

Butcher put his hands out in front of him as if telling her to not get mad. “Becca, look. We’re here for a reason… I just… I need to talk to you… please?”

Butcher was clearly desperate and anyone could tell he would give anything just to talk to Becca alone for a little while.

Becca sighed still holding Ryan in her arms as she gave in and let them come inside. Butcher gave Becca a small smile which Becca did not return and shut the door once MM and Hughie walked in.

Becca placed Ryan back on the floor and bent down to his level. “Ryan, give mommy some time to talk with this man for a bit alright? Why don’t you go outside and finish filming that Lego movie you were telling me about earlier?”

Ryan nodded with a small on his face and nodded as he jogged outside and shut the door behind him. 

Becca then stood back up and looked at Butcher who was standing above her. Becca sighed knowing there wasn’t a chance this was going to end well and turned to MM and Hughie who was still standing awkwardly by the doorway not sure of what to do or where to go.

Becca walked forward and looked at the two. “You two can sit on the couch for now. I’m sure this… won’t take long,” she seethed looking at Butcher when she said the last part.

Butcher exhaled keeping his temper under control and walked with Becca to her room when she walked past him and closed the door behind the two of them when they walked inside.

Hughie and MM walked with each other to the couch that Becca had told them they could sit at and sat down next to each other.

The two were silent as they sat down and both of them looked on the floor trapped in their thoughts.

Hughie could really tell that Butcher really wanted Becca back and fuck did that make him upset all of a sudden.

Hughie used to really feel happy whenever Butcher would talk about Becca but now… no! No, no, no. Hughie  _ is  _ happy for Butcher. Hughie  _ does  _ want him and Becca to get back together. And Hughie is most certainly  _ not  _ in love with Butcher… god, who could he possibly convince with those statements when he could hardly convince himself?   
  


Man, Hughie really was messed up.

“Hughie.”

Hughie turned his head to look at MM who was looking at him.

“Yeah?” Hughie replied.

MM paused before sitting up, keeping his eyes on Hughie.

“So… are you gay or what?”

Hughie’s cheeks went hot and red and the question and looked at him, his eyes widened.

“What? No, no! No, I’m not gay, I don’t think so anyway… no I’m not gay,” Hughie fumbled over his words as he replied.

MM nodded clearly unconvinced as he kept his eyes on Hughie.

“And I’m guessing you’re also gonna deny your obvious feelings for Butcher?”

“Yes! Wait what no! No, I mean I don’t not like him, I just…” Hughie’s face fell in his palms, “It’s really confusing,” Hughie sighed.

MM nodded deciding not to push him too much since it was clear Hughie was struggling with who he even like at this point so there was no point in just making things harder on him with his sexuality.

“Okay, why don’t we take a step back for a minute alright? I want to help you straighten everything out since all this shit in your head is not going to help us in the slightest alright? So take a deep breath and tell me from the top. When did you start feeling what you’re feeling for Butcher?”

Hughie ended up telling MM everything from more detail about his dream, to how he’s been feeling around Butcher lately, to even bringing up how Butcher was making him even question his previous feelings for Annie. 

Hughie was such a mess but honestly, telling all of this to MM was really comforting and something Hughie felt like he needed. To get all of this shit out of his head and tell them to someone who would listen. Which MM did listen. When Hughie was done explaining everything, which took him a whopping ten minutes to do, MM’s reply didn’t make Hughie feel bad about liking Butcher this way, it didn’t even make him feel wrong.

MM told him that if he liked Butcher then there was nothing nobody could do to tell him to stop it rather than himself. But MM also told him that if he kept on fighting it or denying his feelings for Butcher, the harder it was going to be on Hughie and the more distracted and unaware Hughie was going to be around him which MM had said, is far from what they needed right now.

MM then finished him off with an, “It’s up to you on what you decide to do Hughie. I can’t force you to do or not like anyone but I just want you to be aware of the consequences, alright? I trust you won’t do anything stupid and you’ll know your limits right?”

Hughie nodded assuringly. “Definitely.”

MM nodded and opened his mouth to say something more but was cut off when the door to Becca’s room swung open and hit the wall roughly with a pissed off Butcher walking out of it.

Becca was right behind him with a disappointed and angry look on her face.

Butcher made his way over to MM and Hughie on the couch and grabbed the crowbar from the table that Hughie had placed there after Butcher had handed it to him.

“Let’s go. We’re leaving. Now,” Butcher growled at the two not in the mood for any stupid shit.

Hughie immediately obliged for being on Butcher’s shit list was almost as worse as being on Homelander’s. Especially when one of them was just a few feet away from him with a crowbar wrapped tightly in his hand.

MM sat up as well too but probably not for the same reason as Hughie. It was mostly because MM had no reason not to anyway.

Without saying another word, Butcher walked angrily toward the front door and clenched the door handle before looking back at Becca one last time before swinging it open and storming out.

MM and Hughie had nothing better to do than to just follow Butcher all the way back into the van with Butcher not saying a word or what exactly had happened between him and Becca. He just remained silent as well as Hughie since the last thing he wanted to do was set Butcher off even more.

Once they got to the van, Butcher walked to the back of the van and threw his crowbar in there causing the van to shake of how heavy it was and how hard Butcher threw it.

MM sat in the back this time honestly tired and willing to take a nap leaving an anxious Hughie sitting in the passenger seat next to a clearly pissed off Butcher. 

_ God, Hughie was just praying he didn’t say anything stupid. _

~

They had been on the road for about forty-five minutes. MM was fast asleep in the back of the van and Butcher had calmed down a bit from earlier but still had not said a word or even made a sound.

Hughie honestly didn’t mind the silence since it was the closest he was going to get for that hour of solitary he had been practically praying for earlier that day.

Hughie took a look at Butcher whose eyes were glued to the road as he continued to drive. Hughie couldn’t tell if he was driving them back to New York or had just been driving around to get his anger out for the past forty-five minutes.

Hughie couldn’t blame him for that though since it was pretty obvious why Butcher was so upset. It didn’t take a rocket scientist which was for damn sure.

Even though Hughie had to admit he was slightly jealous of Becca earlier when talking with MM, he did feel genuinely sorry for Butcher.

Hughie knew how much Becca meant to Butcher and now that she was gone for good… god, Hughie wished there was something he could do to at least cheer Butcher up a little bit.

But the only thing Hughie could think of that could possibly lighten Butcher’s spirit was to talk to him like MM had done for him.

It took Hughie a couple of minutes before finally deciding to go for it and try to talk to Butcher. Hopefully, he would walk out of this vehicle without a bloody nose. His chances were 50/50.

“Butcher?”

It took a moment, but Butcher did end up glancing at Hughie showing him that he could hear him but Hughie could also tell through that glance that Butcher was warning him to choose his next words wisely.

With a small gulp, Hughie continued. “Butcher I’m sorry about everything with Becca. If she could only see you like I… like we do, me, MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko do, then she would see that you’re more than just some New Zealand serial killer. I mean you became like this for her in the first place. Not to mention that you don’t… necessarily kill without a reason. Sure, you could think twice about it but my point is that you’re not  _ all  _ bad,” Hughie took a breath, “And if Becca can’t see past your trench coat and scars, then she’s not the one for you.”

Hughie kept his eyes on Butcher horrified of what his next move was going to be. Hughie was pretty sure that his next move would definitely be to punch him. 

_ Fuck, not the face, not the face. _

Butcher then came to a red light and stopped the car as he then looked at Hughie... Hughie was trying to read his face but it was hard to do so since Butcher seemed to always have the same facial expressions for every emotion. 

Butcher then picked up his hand and Hughie thought he was done for before he felt Butcher’s hand come down on his shoulder and Hughie looked back at him to find Butcher smiling slightly.

“Thanks, Hughie… that does mean a lot,” Butcher smiled.

Hughie had no idea how his limbs didn’t turn that liquid right then and there. “Y-You’re welcome Butcher... I’m just glad you’re not punching me in the face again,” Hughie replied with a weak attempt at a chuckle.

Butcher responded with a genuine chuckle though and shook his head as he looked down and then back up at Hughie. 

“You wanna get a drink?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Chapter 4 will probably be out really soon since I am really looking forward to writing that. Let's just say... steamyyy ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Butcher and Hughie go to a nearby bar together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. So this took me a while to write and I just want to say I'm not the best at smut writing and I purposely didn't put too much detail in it since it wasn't that important I suppose. And sorry if this chapter seems rushed, ngl I just really wanted to get it over with to start on chapter 5 lol. Well with that said I really you hope you don't hate it lol :)

  
Hughie took a shaky breath when Butcher parked in front of a nearby bar. Hughie wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. They were just going to have a few drinks, that’s all. He knew the drinking would help Butcher out which is what Hughie wanted, but… let’s just say Hughie wasn’t the  _ biggest  _ drinker around.

Butcher turned off the van once they parked and turned to Hughie. Butcher took a look at Hughie and noticed that he looked a bit tense and gave him a small smile as he kept his eyes on him.

“No need to be tense Hughie. You’re alright,” Butcher assured him.

Hughie turned to return his smile and nodded trusting Butcher.

They left MM in the van since it seemed he was really exhausted and would most likely be asleep all night anyway. Butcher didn’t plan on staying there for long but that could always change for Butcher depending on how drunk he would end up being.

Hughie for one didn’t know if he even planned on getting drunk or not. Even though he certainly didn’t want to seem like a lightweight in front of Butcher.

God, something was telling Hughie this night wasn’t going to end well.

Hughie remained cautiously behind Butcher as they walked inside. There were straight, lesbian, and gay couples making out all over the place. The bar was really crowded with almost everyone drunk off their asses. Then again what else could Hughie expect? It was 9:30 at night on a Friday.

Butcher didn’t seem taken by it at all though and instead wrapped his strong arm around Hughie’s shoulders bringing him closer to him to not let Hughie get caught in the middle of anyone.

Hughie’s heart started pounding as he did his best to keep his breathing under control and try not to let Butcher’s touch get to him… Hughie was not doing a good job at it though… at all.

Butcher finally found them two empty stools placed next to each other in front of a long table. Butcher sat down next to Hughie and wasted no time in ordering a large glass bottle of Whiskey with two shot glasses, one of which he handed to Hughie. Hughie took it hesitantly but did end up taking it, with his low self-esteem getting the best of him in front of Butcher.

Butcher poured them both the Whiskey from the bottle in their glasses and Butcher drank it with no questions asked and immeditalatly started pouring himself another shot when Hughie only just drank his shot, following with a lot of coughing afterward.

Butcher snickered softly before shaking his head. “Figured that’d be too strong for you,” Butcher smirked before shaking his head slowly, “Go ahead and order what you want, it’s on me.”

Hughie looked at Butcher and shook his head. “Oh, no, no I can’t have you~”

“Hughie,” Butcher interjected cutting Hughie off, “What the fuck do you want to order?”

Hughie gulped as he looked at the menu in front of him and scanned through it quickly. “Um, w-white wine would be fine~”

Butcher ordered it for him and Hughie noticed that Butcher didn’t seem shocked at the not very strong at all drink that Hughie had ordered. He saw it just as classic Hughie.

_ Fuck, Hughie blushed at the thought. _

Hughie sipped his drink once it was placed in front of him and remained silent as he saw Butcher get out a cigar from his pocket and lit it as he started inhaling and exhaling from it.

Hughie decided that it was best to just stay quiet and let Butcher talk when he wanted to...  _ if  _ he even wanted to. Hughie was fine with just remaining silent though. While he would perfer to talk with Butcher he wasn’t sure if he was yet in the best place right now. And Hughie certainly didn’t want to test his friend’s patience.

After several minutes, Hughie wasn’t holding his breath that Butcher was going to say anything to him, so he let out a small sigh as he started to drink more of his wine and was about to let his mind wander into those shit shows of all of his recent thoughts he’s been having before Butcher quite suddenly speaking again and Hughie turned to Butcher to listen to him. “So I’m guessing Starlight’s out?” Butcher questioned him continuing to drink his Whiskey and looked toward Hughie.

Hughie wanted to say that he’s already told him this before but then remembering that when he told him this it was in his dream which meant that he never had told him what happened with Annie and him yet.

Hughie ended up telling him exactly what happened with Annie and Butcher was a little surprised that Hughie didn’t seem nearly as upset about it as Butcher was expecting.

A few moments had passed when Hughie told him what happened with Annie, he looked at Butcher and worked up some sort of self-confidence to ask him this. “Do-Do you wanna tell me what happened with Becca?”

Butcher didn’t answer for a moment before looking back at Hughie and ended up telling him anyway. Hughie assumed Butcher probably figured there was no harm in telling his friend. So Hughie listened as Butcher started to talk.

“She told me that kid was the most important thing to her and while she still loved me, we just can’t be together again. Ever,” Butcher chugged down on the rest of the Whiskey bottle as he continued, “And then she said even if she could she just can’t remain with someone like me.”

Hughie refused to say that he called it since he rather enjoyed a non-bloody mouth. But with that aside, he felt sorry for Butcher. He really did. Now knowing what happened it only made Hughie feel even worse for Butcher. Hughie wanted to do  _ something _ to make Butcher feel at least a little better. Hughie thought for a moment before remembering that talking to him seemed to make him feel better last time. Would doing the same thing maybe help him out once more?

Hughie went forward and wasn’t sure how but had the sudden courage to place his hand over Butcher’s wrist which was resting on the table and looked at his friend, a look in which Butcher had quickly returned.

“Butcher… I wasn’t kidding what I was saying to you earlier. I know you’re more than just a serial killer alright? And if all Becca sees is that, then she’s not the one for you.  _ I  _ know you’re more than that. MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko all know you’re more than that. Becca is not… Becca was never the only one there for you and was also never the only one who cares for you. O-Okay?”

Butcher was silent as Hughie talked clearly listening to him and Hughie could tell that Butcher was taking his words into deep consideration.

Of course, Hughie had no idea what Butcher was thinking about since the man kept a blank face whenever he was in thought. 

God, Hughie was just as scared as he was when he was back in the van with Butcher.

Hughie thought he had screwed up big time and took a shaky breath when he looked down and took his hand back to his side and then looked back up to Butcher.

“On second thought though maybe there can always be that common chance that I’m very wrong and maybe she needs some time to herself to think about it or maybe uh~”

Hughie’s words were brought to a screeching like halt as the feeling of smooth, sultry, bearded lips were placed deeply on his and Hughie’s eyes were squeezed shut as his brain hastily did its best to catch up with what was happening.

Butcher was kissing him! Holy fucking shit Butcher was actually  _ kissing  _ him! For real this time. Wait this was definitely real right? Fuck, Hughie could care less at this point. He just wanted Butcher’s lips to remain on his. Dream or not, this was the best feeling Hughie had felt all week. It just made things even better when Butcher’s huge and strong hand came up caress Hughie’s cheek and his other hand went down to rest on Hughie’s knee.

After a few moments, moments that felt like hours, Butcher pulled away from Hughie’s lips and opened his eyes along with Hughie and stared into each other.

There was a long silence between the two, their ears practically phasing out the loud music playing in the background and just focusing on each other.

As they did so Hughie realized that he had a million fucking questions that came into his mind.  _ Why was this happening? How was this happening? Why was Butcher doing this? Is there some sort of reason why? Was this because of Becca? It had to be because of Becca right? Or is it possible that Butcher possibly felt the same way… _

“Are you... Hughie, was that alright?” 

Hughie was snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Butcher who oddly enough seemed just as confused and even nervous as Hughie was.

Hughie was silent as he thought of how to answer. Of course, that was alright. Fuck, it was more than alright. But, with all these questions that were trapped in Hughie’s mind and not to mention how suddenly what just happened… happened.

  
  


Fuck, why did Hughie always have to do this? Butcher was right, he always had to question every little thing for no reason. Hughie just wanted to let things happen, he wanted to make his mind stay in one place, and he wanted to continue kissing Butcher. Just like they just were.

“Hughie I’m sorry, I’m drunk and I wasn’t thinking I shouldn’t have kiss~”

Just then, Hughie turned back to Butcher and cupped his cheeks and collapsed their lips together once more. Butcher instantly kissed the younger man back, keeping his hand on Hughie’s knee, and sneaked his other hand to the back of Hughie’s head forcing him closer.

When Hughie attempted to slide his tongue between Butcher’s lips, Butcher pulled away with a devilish smirk on his face as he glanced up at Hughie, his hand sliding upward from Hughie’s knee to further up his thigh making Hughie shiver. Butcher then leaned into Hughie’s ear and whispered, “Why don’t we go grab one of the rooms here, yeah?”

Hughie gulped.  _ Hughie was seriously hoping that he would get out of the bar in one piece. _

~

Hughie opened the door from behind him as Butcher was making out with him ferociously, his tongue shoved deeply inside Hughie’s mouth.

Hughie couldn’t do much rather than just let himself be manhandled onto the bed as Butcher shut the door and locked it and climbed on top of the skinnier man as he connected their lips again just as rough as last time.

Hughie honestly quite enjoyed being manhandled like this, not to mention that Hughie started blushing immensely when he realized that he was already hard as a fucking rock.

Hughie started moaning against their lips which got Butcher smirking as he pulled away slightly from their lips. Butcher rocked him also just as hard cock against Hughie’s which got Hughie moaning even more.

Hughie took notice quickly that Butcher was clearly drunk off his ass, which what can one expect after drinking a whole bottle of Whiskey? Hughie, however, wasn’t drunk but either Butcher didn’t notice or he just didn’t care since he was holding back nothing as his big hand came around Hughie cup and squeeze his ass causing Hughie to keen. 

“Fuck, your ass is tighter than I thought,” Butcher chuckled leaning down to kiss Hughie once more on the lips. “Want me to get in there Hughie? Want my thick cock in that nice, tight ass of yours?”

“F-Fuck,” Hughie stuttered as he breathed heavily and continued to moan. 

“Well? Tell me what you want Hughie,” Butcher ordered leaning down to nip at Hughie’s neck.

Hughie groaned at the feeling as he nodded hastily. “Y-Yes! Fuck yes, I want your big cock inside of me. Please!” 

Butcher growled in approval as he sucked harder at Hughie’s neck leaving a hickie as he sat up, bringing Hughie with him and shoved the younger man’s flannel jacket off of him and threw it off the bed.

Hughie helped him with his shirt which Butcher carelessly tossed off the bed as well.

The same went for Butcher’s trench coat and shirt as they were thrown off the bed leaving only their pants on.

As Butcher’s hands went down to Hughie’s fly and button, Hughie stopped him as he looked at Butcher.

“Um, wait, um… do you think this place has like any lube or something? I mean it’s just my first time having sex with a man and I know it'd be safer and uh~”

'

Butcher chuckled lowly as he shook his head and looked down. “Hughie, Hughie, Hughie. Even during sex, you’re always like yourself.”

Butcher crawled to the edge of the bed and opened one of the drawers to find a half-empty bottle of lube in one of them. Butcher took the bottle in hand as he crawled back over to Hughie and placed it down.

“Happy?” Butcher smirked. Not waiting for an answer, Butcher reconnected their lips as he went back down to Hughie’s fly and button and undid them both and shoved his pants down and yanked them off of him as he threw it off the bed to join the other clothes on the floor.

Butcher’s pants were quick to come off as well and Hughie got a good look at his friend’s cock and Jesus Christ was it huge. Far bigger than what Hughie could’ve expected.

Butcher noticed Hughie’s eyes wandering and grinned wickedly as he ordered the younger man to turn around, which Hughie obliged immediately.

Butcher rubbed the lube on his cock and the next thing Hughie knew he was sitting on top of the older man’s cock and riding it as hard and as fast as he could.

It hurt for the first couple of seconds but after the first minute,  _ fuck,  _ Hughie loved it. While riding his friend, Hughie’s mind was actually put to rest, which was something Hughie was not expecting to happen. Unlike all the other times, Hughie honestly felt at ease and… relaxed. The faster Butcher went the more Hughie moaned, keened, and groaned all at the same time.

Hughie couldn’t believe how…  _ steady _ Hughie felt. Like mentally more steady than he had been… in a while.

_ God, why did this feel so fucking good? _

  
  


After a while, Butcher and Hughie had both came on each other and didn’t bother about the mess or their clothes, both way too tired to even care. So Butcher lied down on the bed and Hughie rested his head on top of Butcher’s chest and immediately got comfortable. Butcher had fallen asleep right away while it took Hughie a little bit to join him in dozing off. 

Hughie still couldn’t believe what had just happened but was way too fucking tired to even think about it right now. Right now he just needed to go to sleep and push all of this until tomorrow. Besides nothing could happen that would be  _ so _ bad… right?

~

Hughie’s eyes opened slowly the next morning and yawned quietly as he sat up and rubbed his eyes open.

Hughie’s ass hurt a lot more than he did last night confirming that last night did happen.

Oh yeah… _ last night _ .

Hughie was naked and wet as hell and was covered in cum. So much for not cleaning up.

Hughie turned to his side to look at Butcher but when he did, he figured out he was alone in the bed.

It didn't shock Hughie too much though since the clock next to him told him that it was 10:15 in the morning. And he knew that Butcher was more of a morning person than most of The Boys were.

So Hughie sighed as he slid off the bed and grabbed his clothes from the floor and dressed himself quickly and washed his face in the bathroom.

Once he was all cleaned up, Hughie walked out of the near-empty bar and found the van quickly and saw Butcher bending down and screwing on a new tire to the van, most likely because the previous one was flattened.

Hughie couldn’t help but smile a bit as he saw Butcher and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked over to Butcher. “Hey…” Hughie greeted.

Butcher stopped what he was doing and glanced at Hughie in the corner of his eyes and sighed a bit and turned his face back to tire without saying anything.

Confused, Hughie scoffed a little as he placed his hands on his hips. “Okay, don’t say anything. I guess I just wanted to talk to you about last ni~”

“What about last night? Nothing happened,” Butcher interjected roughly.

Hughie raised an eyebrow at Butcher.  _ Um, what was he talking about?  _ “What are you talking about? Last night we~”

“ _ We  _ did nothing last night Hughie,” Butcher growled as he stood up to look at Hughie making Hughie shake a bit at how deadly Butcher’s eyes looked. 

Even though he still hadn’t had the slightest clue what Butcher was talking about, Hughie figured the best option would be to go along with this since Butcher did not look in the mood to fuck around whatsoever.

Hughie nodded quickly as he looked up at Butcher. “Yeah… no, yeah n-nothing happened last night…”

Butcher nodded hitting Hughie’s shoulder lightly as he walked past him and sat in the driver seat of the van.

Hughie turned around and looked in the direction Butcher had walked away in and was standing there completely dumbfounded.

What just happened? Clearly Butcher didn't forget about their night together since he seemed very straightforward in saying that absolutely nothing had happened with them last night.

But… why?

Hughie was caught off guard when Butcher honked the horn to the van to get Hughie’s attention to come in. 

Fuck, and Hughie thought things had actually turned for the better for him.

But of course, nothing ever,  _ ever  _ went Hughie’s way.

With a noisy sigh, Hughie went inside the van and sat next to MM in the back as Butcher started the vam.

MM looked at Hughie and raised an eyebrow at the younger man “You look like shit,” MM pointed out.

Hughie glanced at MM but just sighed as he looked down at the floor. 

Shit.

This is not alright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I do hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 5 will be out soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4 days later and Butcher still hasn't said anything about their night together. And it's starting drive Hughie crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Wow, this took a lot longer to write than I was expecting lol. I just wanna say thank you for all the positivity and kudos since I've been getting a lot more than I had originally expected. Well with that said hopefully I didn't keep you waiting too long and I hope you enjoy :)

It’s been four days since Butcher and Hughie had their night together and Butcher still hasn’t said  _ anything  _ about it. In fact, he still treated Hughie exactly how he ever would, almost as if he was treating it like it never even happened.

Butcher would act completely normal around Hughie and didn’t even  _ look  _ at him differently, despite him literally seeing Hughie naked and on his cock.

Fuck, did Hughie hate this.

Each passing day had just been driving Hughie more and more crazy and desperate for Butcher to at least mention it or anything.

God, and Hughie thought that dream was going to be the craziest thing to happen to him. But no, Butcher actually kissed him and then fucked him in a bed at a fucking bar.

Even though Butcher was drunk it was obvious he remembered what had happened since he seemed so… so deadly about Hughie not saying a word about it.

Hughie didn’t have a clue why. The least Butcher could do was tell him  _ why  _ he didn’t want to talk about it nor let Hughie even bring it up. But, no. Butcher just remained in the darkness about it and went on like nothing ever happened. 

Hughie hadn’t yet found the courage in him to go up and confront him about it, but it wasn’t off the table just yet.

Hughie was seriously desperate and normally he wouldn’t even consider confronting that strong as fuck and temper short serial killer. But with each passing  _ minute  _ just made Hughie more and more anguished and desperate and wanting to do exactly that to get some sort of fucking closure.

God, Hughie was a real mess.

What made Hughie the most anguished about all of this was the fact that he was still falling hard for Butcher.

Even during these whole couple of days that Butcher has been a complete asshole to him, Hughie still wanted Butcher more than anything.

Hughie had officially come to grips that he was in love with Butcher ever since they had their night together, but that realization just made things all the more harder on Hughie whenever Butcher would glare at or threaten Hughie to not mention a single thing from that night.

Fuck, why did his heart choose to fall for a goddamn serial killer?

Hughie still couldn’t answer that question of why. He knew the ‘how’ but why he was suddenly falling for Butcher, his mind drew a blank.

That fact would always come up behind him to bug him but for the most part, Hughie considered it not that big a deal to know why he was in love with Butcher. He already knew he  _ was _ in love with this man so what would it change or even matter if he suddenly figured out the ‘why’ part of it all.

It wouldn’t, which is why Hughie always shrugged it off whenever it came up in his mind.

~

Hughie was sitting in his bed listening to the always comforting Billy Joel playlist when he heard a loud knock on his door that he could hear from his earplugs.

“Yeah?” Hughie called out as he paused his music on his phone and removed his earplugs from his ears.

The door opened to reveal MM behind it and he looked at Hughie. “Lunch is here,” MM informed him, “Chinese again.”

Hughie nodded mentally groaning inside. This was the third time this week they were eating Chinese takeout and Hughie didn’t know how many more spring rolls or noodles he could take. However, it was either the Chinese or nothing and Hughie’s stomach was currently too hungry to refuse. So the Chinese it was.

“Thanks, MM,” Hughie replied, “I’ll be out in a minute.”

MM nodded as he left Hughie alone in his room.

Hughie looked down when MM left as he stretched and sat up from his bed. He walked over to his bed stand where he plugged in his phone and left his earplugs on top of it.

Hughie yawned once more before exiting his room and slumped his way to the living area.

MM was helping himself to his Chinese food on the table, Butcher was pacing back and forth on a call with Stan Edgar with the proof of Ryan he got back at Becca’s house, and Kimiko was sitting next to Frenchie with their food on the couch with Frenchie having a wrapped arm around her tiny shoulders.

Kimiko and Frenchie had gotten together during the few days that MM and Hughie had gone up to find Butcher. They had been able to work everything out with one another after what had happened between the two of them and had eventually found out that they shared the same feelings for one another.

They were honestly an adorable couple and Hughie was happy for them. But he couldn’t help but feel a little jealous seeing how contented and completely untroubled they seemed when they were together. Their precious little smiles on their faces never disappeared when they were around each other.

Hughie wanted that too. Hughie wanted someone to be happy with, someone to smile with, someone to feel at ease with, someone to come to his troubles to, someone to understand his pains, someone to always remind him that everything was going to be okay, and someone who would always be there for him.

Fuck, Hughie just wanted to be loved.

And Hughie thought he had that three different times. First with Robin, then with Annie, and then with Butcher.

But each and every time it never turned out the good way for Hughie.

God, was it Hughie? Was all of this because of Hughie? Did Hughie just not deserve to be loved? 

First Robin gets killed right in front of him, then Annie dumps him for the third time for the reason only being that she couldn’t keep doing this with him, and then Butcher wants nothing to do with him after he literally fucked him at a bar.

Could Hughie just do nothing right? 

“Alright boys, I got Black Noir and Edgar off our backs so now we can go back to where we left off,” Butcher announced. Butcher made his way over to the couch where he sat on the armrest which was far too close next to Hughie than what the younger man could handle, for he was sitting right next to the armrest on the couch. 

Hughie took an uneasy breath as he remained where he was and looked straight ahead.

“Well, don’t we have that lead on that one Supe that was nearby Frenchie?” MM asked, making his way over to the group.

Frenchie tsked his tongue as he shook his head. “Not anymore mate. We had a lead on him about four days ago but since you guys decided to spend an extra night up there we lost him and we can’t find him on any of our radars or satellites,” Frenchie explained.

MM moaned a bit which quickly turned into a groan as he eyed Butcher. “I didn’t  _ want  _ to spend another night up there, but I take one nap and I wake up in the morning still in the van to find that we were parked in front of a bar and neither Butcher nor Hughie was in the van.”

Hughie’s face was quickly flushed red in nervousness and embarrassment as he heard Butcher chuckle lightly next to him.

“Ah, calm down will ya? Me and the lad just went to have a couple of drinks that’s all. No harm done.” 

Butcher hit Hughie’s shoulder with a grin towards MM not even looking down at Hughie to see how utterly pissed off he making Hughie with his statement.

_ A couple of drinks? That’s all? No harm done? _

God, the last one couldn’t be further from the truth.

Not to mention that this was the closest statement Butcher had ever said to referring to their night together and all he said was that had a couple of drinks?

_ Fuck you, Butcher. _

Hughie heard MM ask Butcher, “Then why were you guys there all night?” But Hughie didn’t stay for it since after that statement Butcher had made, Hughie was officially done with this shit and had gotten up from the crowded couch and made his way to his room without saying a word a shut the door behind him.

Fuck, why did Butcher make everything so hard all the fucking time? Why couldn’t he tell the truth? Or better yet twist the truth or fucking something that wouldn’t still have Hughie driving himself completely insane.

God, Hughie was a real, real,  _ real  _ fucking mess. 

~

Hughie remained in his room for the rest of the afternoon. Half the time he was watching the fake as hell news about how Homelander was going to make everything in this world great again and the other half of the time listening to Billy Joel music since Billy was the only person in Hughie’s fucked up world that he could rely on at this point.

Which was really sad to think about.

At about seven that evening he heard Kimiko and Frenchie head to their now shared room down the hall and he heard the ever recognizable heavy stomps of Butcher’s feet walk to his room which was right across the hall from Hughie’s and he heard the door open and shut from his closed door and then silence.

Hughie was still really pissed off at Butcher from earlier and oh how he wanted to storm into his room and confront him.

Which… now that Hughie was thinking about it, why wasn’t he? Hughie deserved some closure about that night more than anything. Butcher can’t keep shrugging him off forever, Hughie and Butcher both knew that Hughie needed that closure.

Besides, what’s the worst thing that could really happen?

It’s not like Butcher was ignorant enough to kill or punch Hughie since Hughie was still a crucial part of the team and Butcher knew that better than anyone.

God, why didn’t Hughie think of this before? 

Yes. Hughie wanted his damn closure and he was going to get it now.

Hughie took out his earplug and placed them on the bed along with his phone and once the tall man stood up and walked out of his room it’s like all that self-confidence Hughie had previously had just faded away into thin air.

_ Fuck, what was Hughie doing? _

He can’t just confront fucking Billy Butcher like that. He’s still  _ fucking  _ Billy Butcher.

But Hughie did not want to seem like a pussy to himself and he was already in front of Butcher’s door so what was the point of going back now?

Hughie took a few comforting deep breaths as he slowly regained the thoughts of why he was doing this in the first place back to him and with that, he turned to face Butcher’s door and he knocked on the wooden door lightly.

The knock wasn’t too light, however, for Butcher still heard it from inside his room and told whoever was out there to come in.

So, that’s what Hugie did and he shut the door behind him as he looked Butcher in the eyes as he was standing up and stripping himself from his long-ass trenchcoat as Hughie walked in.

Butcher turned around to meet Hughie’s eyes and groaned a little when he saw the look on Hughie’s face and Butcher instantly connected the dots of what this was about and turned all the way around with his arms crossed and his eyes glaring at Hughie.

“Look. Hughie,” Butcher started gruffly, “If you want to even bring up that night then you can go ahead and get the fuck out right now since I’m not talking about it.”

“How the hell is that fair?” Hughie snapped right back getting Butcher’s attention. “I mean you can’t just fucking sleep with a guy and just treat every day after that as if nothing ever happened!”

Butcher sighed but it sounded more like a groan as he kept his eyes on the younger man. “Fine. You want the fucking truth? I was drunk and still pissed off about my wife and wanted a fucking distraction and you just happened to be right there. There! Is that the sort of fucking response you wanted princess?” Butcher seethed in response

Hughie glared at Butcher with his prick of a response, but in actuality, Hughie couldn’t believe he was this stupid. Of course, all Hughie was was just a distraction for Butcher. God, how could he even be mistaken for anything else?

How could Hughie even think for a second that he would be seen as anything else rather than a minor,  _ measly _ little distraction?

God, Hughie could hit himself for being so blind.

Hughie looked back up at Butcher who still held the same deadly glare at Hughie but Hughie could care less. Fuck, he needed some air.

Hughie looked down shaking his head at himself which he could tell confused Butcher but Hughie still couldn’t care less.

“You know what?” Hughie began looking back up at the older man, “I’m sorry for even bringing this up. I should have known that I’m always the person who’s just...  _ there  _ right?”   
  


Hughie was honestly surprised when Butcher actually shook his head almost assuringly as he looked at Hughie. “No, you’re not~”

“Yes, I fucking am Butcher!” Hughie snapped still completely ticked off.

Hughie stopped himself from going completely ballistic since he didn’t want MM or Frenchie or anyone coming in and questioning them on what they were doing.

So, Hughie gave Butcher one last look and told him, “I’m sorry I’m such a bother.”

“Hughie…”

But Hughie was already out of his room with the door shutting behind him.

Hughie walked to his room and threw on a jacket and shoved his phone and earplugs in one of the pockets as he walked out the room with his hood pulled on over his head and walked to the living area where MM was sitting on the couch watching the news.

MM noticed Hughie walk past the couch behind him and turned the face him.

“Hughie, what are you doing?” He questioned.

“Going for a walk, I need to clear my fucking head,” Hughie muttered in response not even waiting for the part where MM was going to object and tell him to just stay here since it wasn’t safe for Hugie to be walking out in the open in the first place and just left the building.

Hughie still couldn’t believe how fucking stupid he was.

How could he not realize this from the start?

And now Butcher was probably pissed at him and the awkward tension between the two was just going to grow and grow until eventually, it might even cost the team.

Shit.

This is not alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 6 will be out as soon as possible. Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hughie goes on a walk where he meets a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Hopefully, this doesn't feel rushed, I was trying to get it out as soon as possible for you guys. Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> I should also note that this is more of a ‘build up’ which is why it’s not necessarily very long. Chapter 7 will be a lot longer and hopefully a lot better lol

Hughie needed to stop this right now. Hughie needed to stop diving headfirst into things that he knows is going to take weeks to crawl out of.

Everything with Annie and Butcher, fuck, everything that could and did go wrong with those two was right in front of his eyes the whole time but Hughie had always been too blind to see it.

God, why did this always happen to him?

Hughie’s mind trailed back to just a few moments ago when Butcher had completely told him off. He let Hughie know straight up that he was nothing but a decent enough distraction for him so he could get his mind off of the person he did love.

What was Hughie expecting in the first place?

There’s no way Hughie could’ve actually have thought that Butcher would even slightly share the same feelings as him right?

Hughie couldn’t have actually have thought that Butcher did or ever would see Hughie as something more to him than what he already was right?

Hughie couldn’t have actually have thought that they could even possibly be more than just partners right?  
Oh, who the fuck was Hughie convincing? These past couple of days Hughie had been relying on nothing but hope.

Just hope that maybe, maybe things could go the way Hughie wanted them to. Hope that there could possibly be a chance that things would go Hughie’s way for fucking once.

But as usual, nothing has or ever will go Hughie’s way. Ever.

Hughie fought back his tears thinking about it all as he continued to walk down the crowded sidewalks of New York City in the evening. God, Hughie missed these walks. The way the cold, comforting, and tranquil cool breeze would hit his face so calmingly as he continued to walk through it. He missed the sounds of everyone’s voices on the street and all of his heavy unneeded thoughts would drown out in his ears as Billy Joel singing Piano Man or Just the Way You Are would be blasting to an extent through his earplugs. God, Hughie needed more walks like these.

After about fifteen minutes of walking around the sidewalk not sure of where to go, a thought then quickly settled in his mind of exactly where he wanted to go and that’s where his feet started directing him too.

It wasn’t a long walk whatsoever and he arrived within under ten minutes. He looked at his destination with a small smile on his face as he walked toward it and took a seat on the park bench staring at the orange and yellow-ish sun go down after a long and tiring day.

God, Hughie didn’t know how but watching that sunset sitting on the empty park bench that would usually be seated by him and Annie or him and Butcher was suddenly making all his problems, distress, issues, disturbance and everything in Hughie’s head that was causing even the slightest bit of unnecessary conflict in Hughie’s mind started to just slip away into an invisible abyss as he continued to just keep his eyes on the beautiful sunset.

This is what Hughie needed. This is what Hughie had been asking for. Just some time by himself, in a peaceful and quiet location, where he could just sort out all of his problems and conflict by himself without anyone else there telling him what he should or shouldn’t do, nobody there to tell who and who not to like. Just him, himself, and only himself to resolve his issues on his own.

Fuck, he didn’t know doing this would put his mind so at ease and… comfortable. But like Hughie was complaining whatsoever.

This was exactly what Hughie needed after that awful confrontation to Butcher. No more questioning his sexuality, no more thinking that everything he did was wrong, and especially no more people giving Hughie the worst shit to deal with ever.

Hughie took one more soothing breath as he carried on with watching the sun go down and down until it was officially hidden from eyesight leaving Hughie in the darkness of the night sky with a few streetlights scattered all over the small park.  
God, Hughie had to do that more often.

With another calming breath, Hughie was just about to sit up from the bench and head back to the basement with The Boys to finally get some shut-eye before he heard his name being called from across the grassy park.

“Hughie!” He heard a female voice cry in excitement.

Hughie turned his head to see who was there and… fuck, not now.

Annie January, with her blonde hair wrapped in a loose, messy ponytail, and her clothes being limited to some tight jeans, a small shirt, and a jacket, with a big smile planted right on her lips, jogged over to Hughie with that big smile of hers never leaving her face and stopped just inches in front of him as she sighed in relief.

“Hughie! Huh, I’m so glad to see you! Look, I have some great news,” Annie exclaimed.

Hughie just looked down at her in complete shock that she was even here right now without Homelander or Stormfront riding right on her tail and lifted his eyebrows and the supposed good news Annie had to share.

“Oh, um... great. W-What news would that be exactly?” He asked her.

“Well,” Annie started, “I snuck into Stormfront’s trailer during the filming of Dawn of the Seven a few nights and I got this!”  
Annie’s hands dug through her small pockets for a moment before she pulled out several gray-colored photos and handed them to Hughie.

Hughie took the photos from her hands and scanned through them and saw Stormfront in the pictures with real Nazi’s back in the forties and one with her in a wedding dress next to a man in a suit that looked like… holy shit it was Fredrick Vought!

Annie saw Hughie’s shocked reaction that Annie was actually able to get the photos and smiled widely. “I know. I’m thinking this would be the perfect bate to use against Stormfront when the time is right and eventually even take down Vought. I’ve had so many ideas how and when and I was wondering if I could help your team out with my ideas,” Annie suggested even though the way she put it sounded less like a suggestion and more of a ‘you’d be stupid not to let me help’ sort of sound.

Hughie knew that Annie would be a great help with The Boys but he was hesitant upon answering because, oh fuck. How could he manage with him, Annie, and Butcher under the same roof without getting fucking murdered by one of them in the end. Damn, just thinking about the outcomes of what could come with that sent chills down Hughie’s spine.

But Hughie decided to go on what MM had been telling him to do from the start and put the team first and he knew that Annie there would be a great help with everything.

So he nodded silently and handed the photos back to Annie. “Yeah, yeah sure. That’d be great if you could come, Annie. Let me just call Butcher real quick and let him know.”

Annie had a look on her face that was saying ‘what’s the point in asking him just take me’ but she wasn’t objecting when Hughie had already pulled out his phone and tapped on the contact and placed the phone to his ear.

After the second or third ring, Hughie realized that calling Butcher is a terrible, terrible idea given what just happened between the two of them and he would likely hang up before Hughie would even get the chance to speak.

So, Hughie pressed the red cancel call button which confused Annie but he was quick to click on MM’s contact instead and Hughie was relieved when MM answered almost immediately. 

“Hughie?”

“Hey, MM. I uh, I have Annie with me... uh Starlight... and she has a lead on Stormfront and I was wondering if it’d be okay if I took her back with me so we could discuss everything,” Hughie replied.

He heard a loud groan from MM’s line as he answered, “Really Hughie? First, you just leave without saying anything and then you pick up fucking Starlight?”

Hughie gulped at that. MM sighed.

“What about her tracker? Doesn’t she still have that connected to her?” MM asked him. 

Her tracker? Oh shit, Hughie didn’t even think of that.

Hughie turned to Annie to ask her about it before he heard MM continue and he didn’t end up speaking.

“She probably does I doubt she took the time to cut open the skin near her neck~”

“What!”

“But whatever, fine. You can bring her here. I’ll just have Frenchie do the dirty work. Just get your ass back here now!”

“Wait but won’t that hurt her?”

“Hughie, she’s a Supe. It might sting a little but she’ll be fine. Just get back here now!”

MM hung up leaving Hughie all alone with his ex-girlfriend. 

“Well?” Annie asked.

Hughie shook his head of his thoughts as he nodded. “Yeah, yeah, you can come back with us.”

Annie smiled. “Great.”

Yep, great. Just… great.

~

Hughie and Annie walked back in silence with Annie attempting to make small talk from time-to-time once in a while but Hughie either ignored it or came up with a reason to just shrug whatever ever she was trying to say off.

They finally got back to the basement of the convenient store and MM was talking with Frenchie as Kimiko sat on the couch watching Stormfront on the TV with nothing but rage and anger in her own Kimiko way.

“Hey… guys,” Hughie greeted rather awkwardly.

Frenchie and MM turned to Hughie and Annie and make a look as if saying ‘finally’ and walked over to them. 

“Okay, so what’s this lead you were talking about?” MM questioned.

Annie quickly pulled the photos out and handed them to the men to examine and they had the same shocked looks as Hughie did when he first saw the photos.

“Woah, this is great my friends!” Frenchie exclaimed with an excited smile on his face as he took the photos and walked them over to Kimiko for her to see and she shared the same reaction.

Hughie almost jumped when he looked up and noticed Butcher leaning on the back wall oh so silently and dark as he held an even deadlier glare to Annie who didn’t notice him either until she saw Frenchie walk over to the tall man and show him the photos that Annie had gathered up.

“You!” Annie exclaimed when she recognized the figure. Butcher leaned off the wall with his hands in his pockets as he walked over to her.

“Me?” Butcher questioned in response his tone in a complete ‘not giving a shit’ mode and walked inches in front of the smaller female with a snarl.

“You shot me twice in the chest!” Annie accused harshly.

Butcher glared down at her. “Oh, forgive and forget princess. You seem to be doing just fine from that incident anyhow. Not a scar on ya.”

“You still tried to kill me!”

“Still livin’ aren’t ya?” Butcher stated almost as if he was upset that Annie wasn’t dead. Even though it wouldn’t be shocking if that were true.

Since it totally was true.

“You’re the reason we’re in this mess. If you hadn’t blown up Madelyn Sitwell!” 

Butcher rolled his eyes wanting nothing more than to forget any of that shit with Madelyn ever happened since he was still being accused of being the cause of Madelyn’s death.

Because it clearly couldn’t have been that national treasure that Homelander apparently was.

“Guys, just calm down~”

“Stay out of this!” Butcher and Annie both growled in union at the innocent Hughie just not wanting them to rip each other apart.

After a few more moments of Annia and Butcher just glaring at each other, they finally pulled away and Annie went toward Hughie as Frenchie approached her. 

“Ms. Starlight. If you don’t mind, but I need to meet you in the back for a moment. You know to rip out that little tracker of yours,” Frenchie remarked.

Annie nodded with a slight smile as she turned to Hughie and hugged him tightly as she whispered, “Thank you for letting me help you,” and let go of him and followed Frenchie. 

Hughie smiled a bit just glad that the two of them were on good terms but then he turned to Butcher who held the exact opposite look on his face as he glared at Hughie after that hug and walked off before Hughie could even question it.

Why was Butcher glaring at him like that?

He knew he and Annie were close, really close… could it be possible that maybe Butcher was…

“Hughie! I need you in here!” Frenchie called from the other room. 

Hughie immediately shrugged off the thought as he jogged into the room to help out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for reading and chapter 7 will be out soon!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bunch of stuff happens with Annie and Butcher with Hughie.   
> (Yes this is the summary)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So it took me a while to write this and I hope three days isn't too long a wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter lol. Enjoy :)

Hughie arrived in the backroom as he was about to ask how he could help before instantly finding himself looking in the other direction as Frenchie held a small sharp object just inches above Annie’s trapezius on her neck.

“Okay, no, can’t do this, no. I don’t want to watch you cut into Annie with that thing,” Hughie declared, still looking away, his hand on the side of his face shielding his eyes from looking anywhere else anyway.

Frenchie simply chuckled where he was and took a small white towel and handed it to Hughie, who had opened his eyes just slightly to see what Frenchie was handing him.

“Calm down Hughie. MM was telling the truth earlier, it won’t do more than sting her a little,” Frenchie reassured him as the younger man hesitantly took the tower from the other man’s grip.

“You heard our conversation?” Hughie asked the Frenchman.

Frenchie nodded with a careless shrugged as he walked back over to Annie. “Yeah. Me and Kimiko were sitting on the couch when you called MM. No offense, but neither of you are the quietest people around.” Hughie only nodded at the honest response while his eyes were studying the not-so, but at times, very steady hands of the Frenchman.

“Hughie, it’s going to be fine. Once he has the tacker out of me then we can discuss on what we’re going to do with the evidence we have on Stormfront,” Annie insured him, even though it sounded more like a reminder with the light tone in her voice.

Hughie sighed a little as he nodded at the blonde girl who returned the nod with a sweet smile that Hughie couldn’t help but gulp slightly in reply.

Hughie didn’t know why he was suddenly feeling all these nerves and jitters around Annie.

He should be happy that she was back in his life again, right? Clearly, this means they might be able to have another go at being a genuine couple again, right?

Anyone could see that Annie still showed attraction to the taller man and hell Hughie knew if they wanted, sooner or later they could just jump back into each other’s arms and start this whole thing with them together over again.

Fuck, Hughie knew the drill by heart at this point. First, they would have a great time together, somewhere or some time down the road they would end up undressed in the same bed together, and then the next morning Annie would greet him with an ‘I’m sorry I have to do this’ speech and then leave Hughie all by himself in a park or next to a Subway

Fuck, now all of it felt so wrong to Hughie even thinking about it and he couldn’t believe himself for falling for it every time. 

Then again, Hughie was still falling hard for Butcher after getting harshly rejected by the bastard leaving him with the worst thoughts and headaches Hughie had ever had in forever.

God, Hughie wished he could just get his shit together and figure out who he liked, who he didn’t like. What Hughie was okay with, what he wasn’t okay with. And of course, was he still falling for this girl he thought he had loved for months, or as he moved on to a British fucking serial killer?

Hughie needed a wake-up call stat. He didn’t know what he would be waking up from, but Hughie knew to wake-up from...  _ something. _

“Alrighty, Ms. Starlight, can you just move your neck far to the side for me? Thanks,” Frenchie smiled calmly once Annie did his command.

Without another word spoken between the three, Frenchie started up his tiny, deadly, machine in his hands and wasted hardly any time in getting that thing passed Annie’s skin.

Annie made a flinch at the, what she would consider it, slight discomfort, as a lot of her blood was entirely sprayed onto Hughie’s face who whimpered at the yucky and sticky and hot blood on his face which was honestly an under-reaction by Hughie Campbell standards with just a tiny whimper, but in fairness, Hughie had been inside a whale, seen far too many people blow up in front of him, and has seen and been through far worst than just some blood sprayed on his face.

More blood was being spilled out of Annie’s skin as Frenchie dug through the inside of her skin for the tiny tracker.

“Hughie come here,” Frenchie ordered which Hughie had immediately obliged to by taking a few steps forward. “I found the chip and am about to pull it out but when I do I need you to place this towel on top of the cut so it doesn’t bleed out understand me, mate?” 

Hughie nodded hastily, understanding as he got his hand ready to place the towel on top of the wound.

After a moment, Frenchie pulled the chip out of Annie and Hughie pushed the towel on top of her as he was told to and sighed when he comprehended the fact that Annie seemed well and okay and she didn’t seem in pain whatsoever from the cut.

Annie looked up at Hughie’s face as Frenchie went to disable her chip. Annie noticed how bloody Hughie’s face was and she sighed a little. 

“Hughie, your face is covered with blood,” Annie pointed out as if Hughie didn’t already know this.

Hughie simply shrugged. “It’s no big deal,” which was true. Compared to everything else, some blood being splattered on his face really wasn’t that bad to begin with.

Annie just shook her head as he placed her small hand on Hughie’s wrist which started to make Hughie’s heartbeat faster, but not in the good way like with…  _ Hughie tried not to think about it. _

“Hughie, I can handle placing a towel on my skin, you need to go get cleaned up yourself,” Anne informed him replacing his hand with her hand on top of the towel. “Go.”

Hughie nodded in reply. This blood was rather disgusting on his face. Just because he was used to it, doesn’t mean that he enjoyed it either. Hughie gave Annie the slightest smile of gratitude but Annie returned it with a smile they would give each other when they got together or when Annie was hinting and wanting to get back together.

Shit, Hughie needed to get out of here.

Hughie walked out of the back room and back to the living area where he found a towel on the couch that wasn’t completely clean but was clean enough for him to use to clean his face up from the blood.

He took the towel from the couch and walked over to the bathroom and wet the towel under the sink and started wiping his face down from the blood.

Even washing the blood down wasn’t as bad as it normally would be when he would be covered head-to-toe dry and disgusting blood.

Fuck, now Hughie was comparing himself being covered in blood to other times he would be covered in blood?

The sudden scent was smoke coming from a lit cigar hit under his nose and Hughie coughed in response. God, he would never get used to that scent whenever people smoked near or around him.

Hughie heard footsteps approach near the bathroom door and stopped right in front of it. Hughie didn’t want to leave the bathroom now since it would be really awkward with MM and whoever he was talking to if Hughie were to just walk out of the bathroom right in front of them.

“Really, you’re gonna smoke now?” Hughie overheard MM ask someone outside of the bathroom. The door to the bathroom was shut so they couldn’t tell that Hughie was right there behind a thin door.

Hughie tried not to listen to their conversation with MM and whoever he was talking to since that would be eavesdropping, but when he heard who exactly MM was talking  _ to,  _ Hughie was intrigued and couldn’t help but listen in.

“Whatever, it’s how I fucking grieve,” Butcher muttered in reply as Hughie could tell he went to take another puff from his cigar. 

Hughie had to raise an eyebrow at the response. Grieve? From what?

Hughie heard MM reply with a sigh. “Butcher, it's not that big of a deal. It’s clear Hughie isn’t as into her as he used to be,” MM replied.

_ Wait, why would Butcher care?  _ Hughie thought.

“What the fuck is Starlight doing here anyway?” Butcher growled no doubt breathing out smoke as he replied. Hughie could tell due to the disgusting, recognizable scent of someone smoking. 

MM exhaled as he answered, “She has a great lead on Stormfront. She’s only here until we have the lead filled through and then she’s gone okay?”

Butcher just inhaled his cigar without replying and MM groaned. “You know you wouldn’t be this upset about Starlight if you didn’t sleep with the fucking kid.”

Hughie’s eyes widened. Wait… how the hell did MM know about their night together? Did Butcher tell him? Why would Butcher tell him? It’s not like Butcher cared enough to tell anyone anyway right… wait a minute.

Butcher chuckled lowly and sarcastically as his shoe squeaked on the floor as he spun his heel to face MM.

“Well look at that. I tell you what happened an hour ago and you already bring it up to remind me how stupid I was to do that. What a record…”

That answered Hughie’s random question of ‘when did Butcher tell MM’ but Hughie could tell MM was rolling his eyes at the response. 

“I agree... it should’ve been earlier… but look. I’m just telling you the truth, Butcher. If you and the kid didn’t fuck at the bar then you wouldn’t have gotten so attached and you wouldn’t be so fucking jealous of a fucking ex.”

_ Wait. Attached? Jealous?  _ Just an hour or so ago Butcher had snapped at Hughie completely assuring him that he was nothing but a distraction but now hearing the… fuck, what was going on?

There was a short silence but still, a pretty awkward tension there with Butcher’s silence before Hughie heard him reply, “I’m not attached, and I’m not fucking jealous,” Butcher denied.

MM groaned. “Deny, deny, deny. Is that all you do when you don’t want to admit to something?” MM questioned.

_ Admit to... what? _

“Well that seems to be the easiest solution to get out of shit,” Butcher inhaled once more on his cigar.

Hughie could tell MM was simply shaking his head as he heard his footsteps step forward to the British man. “Well it doesn’t work  _ all  _ the time and even  _ you  _ know that Butcher. Denying how you actually feel Butcher is going to put us all in more shit since you’re gonna act horribly toward the kid to make it look like you ‘absolutely do not like this kid in the slightest’ and even you know how much this is going to fuck us all up,” MM growled as he explained, “ _ You  _ have to be the one to protect that kid from any danger or troubles with _ out  _ any hesitations. You know how important Hughie is to the team. Even yelling at that kid earlier was too fucking much and risky. You’re lucky he even came back.”

“Yeah on a fucking leash connected to Starlight,” Butcher growled.

Hughie’s face went flushed red.

MM groaned once more. “Look. I knew if you two were going to do this with each other things wouldn’t end well on their own. So it’s good that you told me so I can fix this between you two. Because if you two were to have to figure this out on your own,” MM paused to laugh for a moment at simply just the thought of it, “Let’s just say… no. It would not end well for you two.”

Butcher’s silence that followed was not as awkward as it was before since it was clear he was just thinking and taking in what MM was saying which Hughie was too. This was all coming out of nowhere to Hughie. Butcher actually was attached to Hughie? What, no. This… Hughie wasn’t really hearing what he was hearing. This all was… crazy. After snapping at each other just the past hour, he was now learning that Butcher was… no, no this was way too much for Hughie to take in all at once. 

“Okay, so what should I do?” Butcher asked MM.

Hughie was interested to know what MM was going to say but of course, at that time, MM and Butcher decided to walk down the hallway causing their voices to muffle, and Hughie not being able to hear them so well.

  
Hughie sighed, fuck all of this was not alright.

Once Hughie heard the two walk into a different room around five minutes later, Hughie knew he was in the clear so he stepped out of the bathroom and walked back into the backroom still in complete shock about everything he had just heard.

When Hughie walked in, his head was sunk low, his mind in deep uncomfortable thought as Annie walked up to him.

“Hughie? Everything okay?” She asked him.

Hughie’s head snapped up and looked at Annie and put on his best ‘I’m amazing’ face and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just went to uh wash my face…”

Annie smiled and nodded. Hughie scanned her and saw that Frenchie and sewed her wound back together and it nearly looked as good as new. “It looks like you're fixed,” Hughie pointed out.

Annie smiled as she looked at the stitching. “Yeah. Between you and me I didn’t know how I felt around him for a few moments but he was able to fix me right back up and take my chip out,” she smiled as she explained.

Hughie only nodded for he really had nothing to say to Annie at that moment and was hoping something might pop up so he could slip away from this… ‘conversation.’

“So…” Annie started, “I was thinking a lot about last time, and I…”

“Hughie!”

_ Shit. _

Hughie turned around to find Butcher walking up to him with his hands in his trench coat pockets. “Butcher..” he answered, still not forgiven him about earlier when they snapped at one another.

“Hey…” Butcher started clearly a little embarrassed at the least as he continued to look at the younger man, “C-Can we talk… privately?”

Hughie was quiet for a second as he thought. He knew it wasn’t a very good idea to talk to Butcher privately, especially after what Hughie had figured out with how Butcher felt about him and with how they yelled at each other earlier. But another part of Hughie did not want to finish talking with Annie because just the way she started mentioning that she was thinking about last time, he knew nothing could end well after that. Nothing could well after that one sentence. Plus, at least with Butcher, maybe Butcher would reason with him a little about earlier but it’s always unpredictable with Butcher.

Hughie had decided to soon take his chances with Butcher since he couldn’t afford an obvious heartbreak that would come from Annie once more so he looked back at the older man and nodded with his hands inside of his jeans pockets.

Butcher didn’t say anything either and only answered with a small nod and Hughie then found himself following Butcher back into his room where they both sat down a foot or two away from each other on the edge of Butcher’s bed just staring at the wooden floor underneath them not knowing who was going to start the conversation and who be the one to first listen.

Hughie turned to Butcher as if about to ask him with his eyes what they were supposed to do before Butcher turned to face Hughie all the way and opened his mouth to speak.

“Hughie… I’m sorry about earlier alright? I was being a dick to you and you’re right, you don’t deserve me just to ignore you about everything and force you to not mention it. It’s not fair and I’m sorry for doing that to you. Hughie…” Butcher paused to think of how to continue and to make sure he hadn’t lost Hughie’s attention just yet, which he hadn’t yet, for Hughie’s eyes never left Butcher’s face as he talked, “Look, I’m not going to lie and tell you that I didn’t sleep with you at first, not because of a distraction. I was telling the truth earlier, I was still pissed off about my wife and did want some sort of distraction. But, once we got started… it was… great,” Butcher smiled and laughed a little at the same time as he looked down back on the floor, not seeing the red flushing on Hughie’s cheeks after hearing that.

Butcher looked back up at Hughie, his smile gone but his face genuine. “I just want you to know Hughie…” Butcher’s hand was placed on Hughie’s knee and Hughie did his best not to draw any attention to it but his heartbeat was telling him otherwise, fuck, he was just glad Butcher didn’t seem to notice and kept his strong hand on Hughie’s skinny knee. “You’re more than just some distraction to me okay? You really did help me that night and… I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you and I really am sorry about how I treated you these past few days, and I hope it didn’t affect you too much… Hughie are you alright?”

Hughie looked at Butcher and nodded. Of course, Hughie was no wat  _ not  _ affected by that night but, fuck, Butcher seemed so genuine and so… apologetic about everything that Hughie couldn’t not forgive him, even though he still was upset about earlier, he felt like he could overcome it over time. Maybe not away but, Hughie couldn’t just stay mad at him forever. Not only because Hughie just didn’t want to, but also because it would definitely be bad if he didn’t forgive him within a few days or so.

Hughie looked at Butcher and just nodded with a slight smile. “It’s okay Butcher. It’s fine. I’m sorry for making such a big deal out of it I just..”

“Hughie you didn’t make a big deal out of it you were reasonable about it. And you deserved to make a big deal out of it anyway if you wanted to,” Butcher assured interjecting Hughie as he was talking.

Hughie nodded. Hughie kept a smile on his face as he continued to look at Butcher who looked at him and sooner rather than later returned the smile and the two just stared at each other for a long few moments.

God, they were inches apart. Not even. Hughie still found Butcher sexy and attractive as fuck and… Jesus, all Hughie had to do was lean in a little bit more and their lips would meet once more.

_ God, just a few inches closer, just a few inches closer. _

“We should head back out to the others. It’s getting really late and I’m sure everyone wants to fall asleep by now so…”

Hughie instantly shook off any previous thought he had just had of his friend and nodded. “Yes, yeah you’re right,” Hughie replied, instantly setting himself off the bed and fumbling to find the door handle from behind for he was still looking at Butcher. “I-I really am glad we had this talk B-Butcher,” Hughie smiled stuttering a bit as he was doing his best to get his words out not quite sure why he was stuttering in the first place as his hand finally found the door handle.

“Me too Hughie,” Butcher smiled in response, staying put where he was in his bed.

~

Hughie had walked back out to the living area where it was practically deserted with everyone already going back in their rooms and the living area being empty except for one person who was sitting on the couch as if waiting for someone.

Hughie sighed silently when he moved forward and saw Annie as she turned her head to look at him.

“Hughie,” she smiled, “I… can we talk?”

Hughie swallowed.

Oh shit.

This is not alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Chapter 8 might be out tomorrow but no guarantees.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hughie hears what Annie has to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Sorry for taking so long to update. I was really busy this week and didn't have much time to write. But I finally finished and hopefully, this will be worth the wait. I hope you enjoy :)

Hughie took a few steps closer to Annie before he seated himself on the couch next to Annie, not helping but feeling slightly nervous as he did so.

What was Hughie about to get himself into? Hughie didn’t want to talk to his ex-girlfriend right at this moment. Especially not after having that much better talk with Butcher than earlier. God, Hughie just wanted to go to bed.

Hughie examined the blonde woman in front of him who was giving him that same sweet, beautiful smile that used to make Hughie melt but now it just made him uncomfortable. Hughie nearly repositioned himself in his seat as he felt the tension within him grow just from that small smile on Annie’s face.

Hughie wanted to return her smile with a smile from his lips as well, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to do so, making the tensity between the two grow.

Well, maybe that was just Hughie who was feeling that uncomfortable tensity for Annie didn’t seem to be bothered or even notice how tense Hughie looked being seated in front of her.

Hughie was seat a good foot and a half away from Annie and his breath hitched in a not very nice way when Annie scooted closer to the taller man and place her smaller hand on top of his which was rested on the couch.

Hughie didn’t retreat his hand when Annie did so and kept it there not to his liking however, but he knew he would feel really bad if he did move his hand because he had a feeling that Annie would be confused and/or embarrassed since they technically weren’t a couple and placing a hand on top another’s is a very ‘couple’ thing to do… okay, with  _ one _ exception.

Nonetheless though, Hughie noticed Annie take her breath to start speaking and he immediately started mentally crossing his fingers and holding his breath that Annie wasn’t about to go where Hughie was thinking this conversation was about to head.

For if it did go the way Hughie thought it was going to go… things would not turn out well between the two.

“So, Hughie…” Annie started but then paused as if thinking of how to continue, “Ever since I met up with you again my mind has been all over the place about me and you… it’s like I can’t help but always think back about that night we had together when we went to find Liberty.”

_ Fuck! This is definitely going the way Hughie thought. _

Hughie didn’t respond, for hopefully, Annie would end up leading in a completely different direction. Although, it certainly wasn’t seeming that way.

“I mean the night we had together was great… but I know I ruined it the following day. But I want you to understand that I didn’t have a choice. Homelander nearly killed me the day before for accusing me of still seeing you. Which… I was but…” Annie took a breath as her eyes never left Hughie’s face and she quickly continued, “I want you to know that I never would’ve done that if I didn’t think I wasn’t brave enough to get myself out of Homelander’s reins. I really, really like you Hughie and…” Anne took a calming breath as she scooted herself slightly closer to the taller man, “I do want to try again. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but I feel like we have this thing, this  _ connection _ almost as if I couldn’t ever leave you for so long. Even if you lied to me and have treated me like shit with blowing me off way more times than I would’ve liked,” Annie shook her head as she looked back at Hughie, “I think we’ve both come over all of that and I do think we’re ready to be a  _ proper  _ couple this time. For real. No more lies, no more blowing each other off, just me and you against all the stupid shit the world throws at us… what do you think?”

Hughie was absolutely silent the whole time Annie had practically poured her heart out to him. Yep, this was everything Hughie was expecting her to say and more. God, Hughie knew five days ago he would melt into her arms right then and there and tell her that he wanted to go back with her again.

But after everything that had happened with Hughie that passed a couple of days. Shit, even if he _ wanted  _ to get back together with Annie, how would he even reply?   
  


How the fuck would he sum everything up for her?

_ Yeah, Annie, I would love to get back together with you. But I should also mention that the night of the day that you dumped me again I had a sexual dream about my friend Butcher nearly giving me a blowjob. You know Butcher, that British serial killer who has tried to kill you by shooting you twice in the chest. Yeah, and ever since then I’ve pretty much have had a bisexual awakening and I’m seeing Butcher in ways I’ve never even thought of seeing him in before. Not to mention he also fucked me at a bar just a couple of days ago and since then I’ve figured out that I’m pretty much obsessed with him and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with him in every way possible and I have wanted to get back in bed with him ever since. I also just recently figured out that he might even have the same feelings as me. So, as long if all of that doesn’t get in the way, I would love to get back together with you Annie. _

Yep, there was no possible way things would work out between the two.

“Hughie?”

Hughie was snapped out of his thoughts and pulled back to reality when Annie called his name.

Fuck, he knew they couldn’t get back together and he knew that he had to tell her now that they couldn’t get back together. But how was he supposed to let her down? Softly? Harshly? Quickly? Slowly?

Hughie decided on the option to not let her down harshly but not too slow that he would take forever to get to the point.

Hughie looked back at Annie with a small smile which was a genuine smile for he still respected Annie and wanted to make sure that she knew that as well as he did.

“Annie…” Annie’s head perked up to look at him and Hughie gulped before continuing, “I feel like I need to tell you that… you're an amazing person and an incredible girl, I mean you were basically the girl of my dreams but… I just… don’t think this is gonna work out between us.”

Hughie could tell Annie was a bit caught off guard by this since he noticed her head go back slightly. “W-Why not?” Annie asked.

Hughie gulped. There was an obvious reason why but he really,  _ really  _ didn’t want to tell Annie the whole story.

Not just because Annie would probably hate him but mostly because Hughie just found it embarrassing to tell her every little detail of what had happened between him and Butcher.

Hughie knew he didn’t want to tell Annie exactly why and came up with something that would make a lot of sense and not made up, which in all honesty this wasn’t even made up at all what he was about to tell Annie. It was the truth. For both her and Butcher.

“I just… I feel like I need to move on, on my own. I know I’ve been so clingy to you and I think for now I just need to make my own choices and what do what I want. I really do like you Annie but… I just don’t think you’re the right one for me.”

Hughie’s heart was beating hastily and uncontrollably as he explained all of this to Annie. While this was all true, it wasn’t the total reason why he couldn’t get back together with Annie and he was just hoping Annie wouldn’t be upset or hate him afterward since Hughie did want to remain friends with Annie.

There was a pretty awkward silence that followed Hughie’s explanation but Hughie didn’t dare speak for he knew Annie was just thinking in silence and the last thing Hughie wanted to do was rush Annie’s thoughts.

Annie then looked back up and met Hughie’s eyes once more and Hughie couldn’t imagine a time of being more relieved when Annie looked at him with a soft smile. 

“Hughie… I understand. I only want the best for you and if you think I’m not the right one for you then I would never force you into anything that would make you uncomfortable or uneasy persay. I can’t say that I’m happy with your decision but…” Annie sighed, “I respect your decision and I still want to help you guys in taking down Vought and I hope that we can still be friends after this,” Annie finished.

Hughie quickly found himself nodding at that. Yes,  _ yes  _ this is exactly how Hughie was wanting this all to go! Fuck, he was so relieved and so… happy. Happiness was a weird feeling to come across for Hughie since Happiness is an emotion he hasn’t felt in… a long time.

“Thank you, Annie,” Hughie smiled wrapping the blonde girl in a friendly embrace around his arms.

Annie returned the smile graciously and softly and hugged the taller man back. 

The two stayed for a good soothing couple of moments before they both mutually unwrapped themselves from the tight hug and looked at one another.

“I’m gonna, uh, I’m gonna go to sleep now… on the couch,” Annie claimed hesitantly not quite knowing what else to say to break the silence between them.

Hughie nodded as he slid off the couch and on his feet. “Yeah, uh, me too… I uh… good night.”

“Good night,” Annie echoed as she watched Hughie walk off into one of the rooms across from each other down the hall.

~

Hughie walked backward down the hall as his eyes never left Annie as he saw the blonde girl fluff out the blanket on the couch and make herself comfortable on the wool cushions. 

Hughie couldn’t help but smile. He was so grateful that they were still on good terms with one another. And Hughie was so thankful they came to good terms without having to mention the ‘Butcher’ situation.

Speaking of Butcher, Hughie was also extremely grateful that they seemed to be on good terms with each other too. Sure, they had still had some work to do and work out, and Hughie knew one time or another he had to tell Butcher about the dream and that he heard him and MM in the hallway while washing up in the restroom. But for now, Butcher just  _ admitting  _ that they did have that night together and the fact that Butcher didn’t seem to regret it at all, he even said he was  _ grateful  _ for it, Hughie figured that was enough to keep himself afloat for now.

Hughie’s hand fumbled for the doorknob, his eyes still practically glued in Annie’s direction not even seeing the doorknob below him as he opened the door to his room.

Hughie’s mind wandered to the dream he had had nearly a week ago. That fucking dream that started this whole mess to begin with. God, if he even knew where his life would turn out from then. A bisexual awakening, finding Butcher sexy as fuck,  _ sleeping  _ with that sexy as fuck Butcher, not to mention also  _ rejecting _ Annie for getting back together… Hughie still had no idea how he was still in one piece and was continuing to be able to keep all of his shit together.

Well… somewhat at least.

Now that Hughie thought about it, he really needed to just hit the hay. Just a good night's rest so he could finally shut off his mind for the night and put an end to all the shit that had happened that day. Because, fuck, did Hughie just need to put a halt to all the events that they day had held for Hughie. No, Hughie just needed to lie down and go to sleep…

“Hughie?”

Hughie’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest and the sudden call of his name from that recognizable British accent.

Hughie held a hand to his chest once he caught his breath as he turned to face Butcher who was just sitting on the bed looking at the skinny man with a raised eyebrow and a confused look on his face.

“Butcher? W-What are you doing in my….”

Hughie’s words were quickly trailed off as he caught a quick look around the small room and realized he had just stumbled into Butcher’s room rather than his own.

_ Fuck. _

“Oh… s-sorry, I-I wasn’t looking where I w-was going,” Hughie stuttered in response, his cheeks flushing redder by the second in embarrassment.

Butcher’s confused look on his face slowly melted into a small grin on his face as he shook his head and looked at Hughie.

“You’re alright mate, no worries,” he assured the younger man as he stood on his feet and walked to the dresser next to the bed. Hughie watched the older man as he opened one of the drawers and pulled out a cigar and lighter and lit it as he turned back around to face Hughie who held a disapproving look on his face that Butcher read quickly but shrugged it off as he placed the lighter back in the drawer and closed it as he inhaled the cigar. “Oh, don’t be such a cunt Hughie. I always smoke at this time of night. You all are usually asleep by now so it’s the only time I get to without you or MM on my back about it. And just because you’re awake it ain’t gonna stop me from what I normally do at this time so just deal with it alright?” Butcher declared gruffly with gray smoke passing his lips as he spoke.

Hughie just sighed figuring there was no point in trying to tell Butcher to quit so he was quiet for a moment before looking back up at Butcher and with all of the little courage he had in his skinny form ended up asking, “Can I… stay here for a few with you?”

Butcher’s eyebrow was raised at the question. “What you want one too?” Butcher asked gesturing at the small cigar between his fingers.

Hughie almost gagged at the thought and hastily shook his head. “N-No, no I don’t want to smoke… I just…” Hughie took a shaky breath as he continued, “I was just wondering if I can just talk with you for a bit. I-If that’s okay with you I mean, I know you might just want to be alone with your cigar and if so I totally get it, in fact, I’ll just leave right now since I’m pretty sure you don’t even want to in the first place~”

“Sure,” Butcher replied lowly cutting Hughie’s rambling off.

Hughie turned to face him, honesty surprised at the answer. “R-Really?” Hughie questioned.

Butcher simply nodded with a sigh taking another puff of the cigar as he sat down on the bed and gestured his head for Hughie and join him.

Hughie smiled a little as he sat down next to Butcher on the bed as he looked straight ahead as he heard Butcher continuing to inhale and exhale the disgusting smoke coming from the cigar.

“What’s on your mind Hughie?” Butcher asked Hughie as he faced the younger man through the corner of his eyes. 

Hughie didn’t know why but he felt like he needed to gulp before answering which was what he did but Butcher didn’t notice for he seemed to focus on his stupid cigar.

Hughie’s breath was shaking as he replied, “Annie wanted to get back together with me,” Hughie was cut off by a sudden grunt escaping Butcher’s lips as his eyebrows seemed to furrow. Hughie gulped once more at the sound as he continued, “But I told her no.”

Butcher’s face was now turned to Hughie as if he was surprised. His whole face read that he was not expecting Hughie to say that. “Did you, now?” He asked.

Hughie nodded trying to make out Butcher’s expressions as he added on, “It wasn’t easy though… I really do like Annie and I was hoping that I wouldn’t break her heart or anything but… in the end, I just how to tell that I needed to start making my own decisions and go out with somebody I felt I was truly in love with… you understand right?”

Butcher nodded as he looked down. “Yeah… yeah, I do. I guess I’m just… shocked,” Butcher admitted.

Hughie tilted his head. “Shocked?” He questioned.

Butcher nodded once more and met Hughie’s eyes not realizing that Hughie was confused by this statement. “Yeah, of course, I’m shocked Hughie. I mean, I’m proud of ya sure, I just... don’t remember you being  _ this  _ confident you know?”

Hughie held his eyes at Butcher still confused but honestly starting to get a little offended for some reason. “No… no I don’t know,” he replied.

Butcher sighed roughly, which Hughie didn’t know that was a thing before he met Butcher, and Butcher looked back at Hughie. “Come on Hughie, don’t start acting like a cunt over this. You know what I mean. You used to be all over Starlight even after she dumped ya, what, three times? And you still would always be crawling back to that cunt like she was a fucking goddess or some shit…” Butcher shook his head, “It’s just news to me that you a finally saw the truth of it all and I’m glad that you’re finally doing what  _ you  _ want for a change,” Butcher explained.

Hughie listened to Butcher as he nodded but was groaning mentally.  _ Seriously? Did Butcher really think this was the only reason he didn’t get back together with Annie? How could Butcher not connect the dots at this point that he was that new God that Hughie was crawling back to? _

“Th-Thanks…” Hughie hesitantly replied before swallowing and continued talking without thinking, “But you know that’s not the  _ only  _ why I wouldn’t get back with Annie right?”

Hughie stopped himself from slapping his head when Butcher replied with an oblivious, “Oh?”

Hughie shook his head in response. The next part, Hughie said entirely without thinking whatsoever.

“I actually have this friend, right, a friend I would never think of any more of than  _ just  _ a friend. But then one night, fairly recently, I had this dream about them. This strange, bizarre,  _ sexual  _ dream about them very nearly giving me a blowjob before I woke up and realized that it was all a dream. And now I’ve been going basically crazy for them ever since,” Hughie couldn’t believe he had just admitted that all to Butcher. Hughie was suddenly fidgeting on the inside and gulping realizing that he had just gone in far too much detail about what had happened and, shit, what did he just say?

“Huh,” Butcher replied, Hughie’s eyes widened, “Never would’ve suspected you were having sexual dreams of someone,” Butcher replied sounding… disappointed, “Is that you enjoyed the night we had? So you can distract yourself from this friend of yours?”

_ Butcher, you motherfucker. _

Hughie was practically glaring at Butcher at this point. How the actual  _ fuck  _ could Butcher not put the pieces together and come to the obvious conclusion that it was  _ him. He  _ was the one Hughie was going crazy for. Not some fucking friend.

God, Hughie could feel his anger and frustration inside of him boil up and he never realized he could be so aggravated with someone that it would literally just blow his top off.

But here he was.

Fuck, Hughie was pissed. Why can’t Butcher just see that Hughie was in love with him? Why did Hughie always have to spell everything out?

_ No Butcher. Actually, it’s not some friend, it’s actually you. You are the friend that has been driving me crazy. And trust me, it is not helping when you are this oblivious. _

Hughie wanted to scream, he was so aggravated. He wanted Butcher to know. Goddammit did he want Butcher to know.

“Hughie, you alright mate…”

With Hughie’s consciousness and senses nowhere to be found to stop Hughie from what he was about to do, Hughie turned to the older man, cupped the sides of Butcher’s face, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

God, being reunited with Butcher’s lips was so comforting and so… familiar. Fuck, Hughie didn’t want this end. Hughie was pouring out all of his rage, frustration, and aggravation for Butcher in this one deep kiss and fuck did it feel so good.

Hughie could tell how in such a state of shock Butcher must’ve been in for he wasn’t kissing back but wasn’t pulling away either, so Hughie continued kissing the older man completely thoughtlessly.

And then, just when Hughie thought everything was finally alright after finally letting Butcher know exactly who this  _ friend  _ was, the worst thing happened to Hughie. Hughie’s mind caught up with the situation and realized,  _ what the actual fuck am I doing!? _

Holy shit, Hughie had just out of nowhere pulled this British serial killer into a passionate kiss proving once and for all that Hughie was in love with him. 

_ Fuck! What has Hughie just done? _

This was horrible, terrible, how could Hughie be this stupid in actually  _ kissing  _ Butcher right the fuck out of nowhere?

Hughie quite abruptly removed himself from Butcher’s lips and his hands retreated from Butcher’s face.

“Oh fuck, oh shit I am so sorry! I am so fucking sorry. I- fuck… I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking,” Hughie rambled worriedly as he scrambled himself off Butcher’s bed.

“Hughie, wait..”

But Hughie didn’t hear Butcher call out for him for the door was already shut behind him as Hughie walked across the small hallway to his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Hughie walked to his bed completely zoned out as he fell to his knees in front of his bed, the only thing in his mind being,  _ what the fuck have you just done? _

Shit.

  
This is  _ not  _ alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 9 will be out soon and (hopefully) it won't take as long as this chapter to write. Thank you for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Boys get a lead, Hughie has to try and deal with what he had done last night/rewrite of 2x06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... Hi. Let me start out by saying that I am SO sorry for not updating sooner. I got so hooked on this show I heard about called Queer as Folk (definite recommendation) and I just never had the time to update. But I realized that I couldn't keep you guys waiting forever and I typed all of this up for you guys. I really hope you enjoy it and I hope I didn't keep y'all waiting for too long :)

The awakening sun shone through the closed blinds of Hughie’s window the next morning, causing the young man to have to blink a few times before opening his eyes all the way. God, Hughie did not want to have to get out of bed this morning.

After the all but fiasco that Hughie had brought into Butcher’s room last night, Hughie was actually praying that he wouldn’t wake up this morning. The last thing he needed was to come face-to-face with the older, British man. 

Hughie still couldn’t believe how so, incredibly ignorant he was to just let go of all of his senses and just kiss him, just like that. 

Hughie couldn’t even put his finger on it. What came over him to convince him to do something that insane? Was it lust? Maybe Hughie couldn’t stand being just inches apart from his friend’s beautiful, slim lips any longer. Was it frustration? All the anger and aggravation held deep inside Hughie, he finally decided to let it all out with that kiss. Or maybe Hughie just wanted Butcher to finally feel how much Hughie really did care about him and how he felt so much more to him than just a fuck and a distraction that night at the bar. And Hughie knew that Butcher felt the same way towards him. Thinking about it more, Hughie didn’t know who he was fooling. It was fucking all of those combined.

Given that answer, however, Hughie then had to wonder, why now? Why did he finally decide to just lay it all on his friend what he was feeling for the past week when he had several opportunities to do it before then? Although, the ‘why’ of this situation didn’t even matter since Hughie figuring it out wouldn’t take away from the fact that he still  _ kissed  _ that British serial killer again practically out of nowhere in his fucking bedroom.

Fuck, Hughie could only imagine what Butcher was thinking of him right now.

As Hughie thought more, the best outcome that could come from Butcher’s reaction was that he completely ignored it just like the night at the bar. Treat it all like nothing ever happened. And as much as Hughie did not want that to be the overall result of everything, what better reaction could Hughie even get out of Butcher at this point.

From the whole start of this, all the way back to that stupid dream, Hughie has just been playing with fire. Fire that if he let it loose or lost his grip on it, everything would immediately blow up in his face.

And apart of Hughie was already realizing that that has already begun.

Fuck, Hughie was  _ far  _ from alright at this point.

Hughie sunk deeper into his sheets as he looked at his phone next to him on the nightstand and read that it was almost 8:30 in the morning. He could hear very distant chatter coming from down the hall so it was clear Hughie wasn’t the only one awake. 

Hughie took a sigh as he realized there was no point in staying in bed all day. Hughie would still eventually have to suck up all his pride and come face to face with Butcher once more. A big part of Hughie knew he wasn’t ready for that but that other small part knew that this was all on him and at this point in the story he had nothing left to do  _ but  _ come face to face with his older friend that he still kissed out of nowhere just nine and a half hours ago. 

God, Hughie’s life really can’t get any worse at this point, can it? Although, Hughie also wouldn’t say he would be shocked if it could.

Slowly, Hughie dragged himself out of his bed with several soft groans escaping his mouth as he finally stood up straight and slumped over to his dresser and got himself dressed rather quickly as he shoved his phone into his back pocket as well before he walked over to his door.

Hughie placed his hand on the handle and begrudgingly opened it as he was suddenly met with his blonde ex-girlfriend who had her hand up in a light fist resembling she was about to knock on his door.

“Hughie, finally! We need you out here now. Something big came up,” Annie announced hastily. 

Hughie looked down at her in curiosity as he tried to read her voice. It definitely sounded like something important but he couldn’t tell if it was for the better or for the worse. Hughie guessed it was both as he finally answered, “What’s the matter?”

“We tracked down one of Stormfront’s hideouts and found that it’s at an abandoned hospital and we found out that she’s visiting there once more in a little less than an hour,” Annie explained.

“Or so we think it’s abandoned,” MM interfered from down the hall with his eyes fixed on the computer screen in front of him, “Judging by some recent security camera footage it appears that there are a whole bunch of unauthorized and some even underaged Supes being brought there. Our only guess is that they’re all Supe-terrorists taking shelter by Stormfront.”

“Holy shit…” was all Hughie could get out at the sudden amounts of information being thrown at him at once.  _ Seriously guys, he just woke up. _

Annie nodded as she lightly pulled Hughie out of his room by the wrist and started leading him toward the small crowd in the den, “Which is why we need to get there now if we have any chance of getting any sort of dirt on her again any time soon.”

Annie let go of Hughie’s wrist once he was standing at the edge of one of the long tables and Hughie took a quick scan of the people around it. MM was typing speedily along the keys of his laptop, while Kimiko was looking through several weapons at the edge of the table for The Boys to use during this mission. No sign of Frenchie, and thank god no sign of Butcher either. 

“Butcher and Frenchie are already in the van, it’s gonna take a twenty-five-minute drive so that when we get there we’ll have a short time to get in and out before Stormfront gets there to get the dirt on whatever secrets she has lying in there. Great decision for getting Starlight here by the way,” MM finished looking at Hughie with a small hint of a smile curled on his lips as he picked up his laptop and walked upstairs to the van.

MM was quickly followed by Kimiko who had a huge armful of weapons wrapped in her arms as she left as well, leaving only Annie and Hughie in the hideout.

“Nervous?” Annie suddenly asked as she turned to face the taller man who returned her looked while unnecessarily sighing and nodded a little.  _ But not for the reason you think though. _

Annie nodded at the reply as she answered, “Me too… but it’s what we have to do to take down The Seven and all the shitty things there all up to.”

_ Oh, right. We’re still talking about that,  _ Hughie thought as he focused his already trailing off mind back to reality as he nodded.

Annie gave him a sweet smile as she took his hand assuringly and led him upstairs to the van where Kimiko was loading up the weapons and MM was climbing into the vehicle. Annie walked over to the van too and climbed in along with MM while still pulling Hughie along with her.

Hughie sat next to Annie and tried not to even think about the fact that Butcher was sitting just a few feet in front of him in the driver seat. Hughie avoided eye contact and any contact at all as the bearded man started up the engine and The Boys were out on the road.

Twenty minutes in and there was light chatter here and there, mostly Butcher asking directions from MM who was seated with a map pulled up on his computer in the back of the van, but overall nobody and had anything to say. Frenchie turned the radio on a few minutes in and all that seemed to be on everybody’s top story list was the ‘star-crossed lovers’ that were Homelander and Stormfront.

Hughie could tell that almost everyone wanted to gag whenever that was mentioned. 

During the whole ride though, Hughie was twitching and squirming in his seat every couple of seconds. It wasn’t too much movement and nobody even realized except for Annie who was seated right next to him.

Twenty minutes of this and Annie finally turned a little in her seat to face the tall and skinny man and place a small hand on his shoulder. “Hughie, is everything alright?” She asked.

Hughie had no idea how but he could just  _ feel  _ Butcher’s eyes on him glancing up from the rear-view mirror and Hughie took a shaky breath as he looked down at Annie and shook his head. “No, no I’m alright,” Hughie lied.

Annie wasn’t convinced however and raised her eyebrow as she scooted slightly closer to him. “Hughie, you know you can tell me if anything is bothering you,” Annie assured the older man.

Hughie started shaking his head though when he noticed MM’s eyes glancing up at him as well who was seated right across from Hughie. “No… no, nothing’s wrong though, I’m fine,” Hughie attempted to convince.

“Hughie…” Annie started. Hughie then looked at her suddenly feeling a bit annoyed as he blurted out, “Nothing is wrong Annie, I’m fine! Just leave me alone,” Hughie practically begged as he faced away from her and crossed his arms like a bratty five-year-old.

Annie seemed in shock for it took her a moment to look straight ahead and remove his hand from the taller man’s shoulder. Hughie gulped when he heard a soft, almost disappointed sigh come from Butcher in the front seat as he could tell that his eyes were now back on the road.

The rest of the ride was in complete silence when Butcher finally pulled up to the ‘abandoned’ hospital they were all talking about as he hit the brakes and the van was held to a halt. 

“This it?” Butcher asked MM turning his head slightly to face him.

MM did some quick typing on his laptop as he nodded confirmingly and everyone wasted hardly any time in exiting the van. Butcher and Frenchie were the first ones out as MM and Kimiko sat up and opened the van doors and jumped out as well. Annie and Hughie were remaining oddly still for some reason before they heard Butcher ask, “Are you two just going to sit there all day?”

Annie sighed a bit annoyed as she climbed out followed by Hughie who kept his eyes on the ground, not wanting to meet Butcher’s gaze. 

“Alright, the plan,” MM started, “Me, Frenchie, and Kimiko are gonna go in there and scoop out all the evidence we can of Stormfront and whatever is inside that place. We have around twenty minutes tops but, of course, that could change any second. Which is why I need Butcher, Starlight, and Hughie to stay out here and keep watch while we’re in there. If you guys notice even the slightest sign of Stormfront’s appearance, contact us immediately,” MM ordered as he explained the mission. “Is everyone good on that?”

Everyone nodded slowly and a few muttered, ‘yes’ as well as MM returned the nod and sighed. “This mission could end in many different ways. The best outcome being we come out of there with unbelievable evidence or dirt that we waste no time at all in exposing to the world. However, I’m pretty sure we all know what the worst outcome of this is as well. So, I need you all not to think about that for like Starlight says this can be the best shot we got for a while for taking down The Seven. So, with that all said and done are we all good for getting in there?” 

“Yes,” everyone replied in unison as they all broke and went to their ‘stations’ to get all that they needed to get this shit started with.

~

Annie was wandering around the van constantly looking up at the sky as Butcher was lying on his stomach on top of the van with a gun at hand looking through the magnifier looking for any activity as well. 

While there seemed to be nothing at the moment, Annie looked down from the sky and toward her eyes toward Butcher who’s eyes hasn’t left the magnifier yet. 

Hughie was seated in the passenger seat of the van with no weapons or anything since both Annie and Butcher knew that Hughie wouldn’t be much help anyway if Stormfront had come by so they agreed that Hughie should stay in the van until they got this over with.

Annie continued to look at Butcher and sighed gruffly as she walked forward a bit a stopped a few feet from the van. “What the fuck did you do this time?” Annie started out with.

Butcher took his eye away from the gun as he looked down at the blonde girl below him and raised a brow not sure what she was talking about. “Probably a lot of things, wanna try being more specific, princess?” Butcher replied nastily.

Annie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she continued, “Hughie has been acting weirdly ever since he found me at the park. And today is no different. He hasn’t even made eye contact with you at all, it’s like he’s avoiding you. Did you hurt him?” Annie suddenly made glaring eyes at Butcher as she asked the last part and Butcher knew full well he was probably screwed if Annie thought he has hurt Hughie physically. 

“No, I didn’t fucking hurt him. Intentionally, that is,” Butcher stated the last part quietly so Annie couldn’t hear him, “Look, things with me and him have just been weird lately.”

“Weird how?” Annie instantly asked.

Butcher rolled his eyes for sure not wanting to explain everything to her as he sat up and shrugged, “Just weird. Confusing kinda weird… he knows as well I do though that it’s best if we just stay out of each other's way for a little bit.”

Butcher hadn’t forgotten the previous night when Hughie had come into his room and kissed him and then ran out of there like a scared little mouse horrified of what he had done. Butcher was so taken by surprise by the action that he never even had time to kiss the younger man back before he pulled away from him. Butcher’s odd feelings for the kid were indeed more than friends but Butcher was trying his best to avoid even thinking about that since he had far more important issues to deal with that definitely didn’t involve questioning his own sexuality over some kid he had sex with at a bar. That’s not to say Butcher wasn’t planning  _ not  _ to talk with Hughie about everything, he just didn’t want it to have to be so soon. But, of course, Hughie was so pushy that Butcher felt he had no choice but to yell him off when Hughie questioned him about it, and it certainly didn’t help his anger when he came back with fucking Starlight. Butcher was not expecting to get as jealous as he had when he saw that and found himself cursing himself out for acting like such a hopeless romantic toward someone he had sex with once. But in the end, Butcher decided that maybe it was best if they just stayed out of each other’s faces for a little bit just so they could both take the time to think everything through. Which he could tell Hughie had already begun on his own. So, might as well do the kid a favor.

“But I don’t understand what you two could’ve possibly have done to act… like you are right now towards each other. You know I care about Hughie, and I’m sure that you do too, so I want to know what happened or what is so weird that Hughie can’t even stand to look at you,” Annie stated.

Butcher took a rough sigh for he couldn’t believe he was actually considering telling Annie what had happened between the two of them. Butcher had to be silently grateful that Hughie couldn’t hear anything that was going on since he was inside of the van by himself with all the doors and windows shut.

“Well?” Annie questioned after a moment of silence.

Butcher took in his breath as he was about to reply before he heard footsteps walk up from behind them. Butcher turned to look in the direction of the footsteps and found a skinny man in a hospital gown with an unsure look on his face as he looked around tensely and his fingers were spread apart and palms were faced to the ground.

Annie and Butcher shared a glance with one another as they nodded and Butcher slid off the van and both of them walked cautiously and slowly toward the young man with their hands out for reassurance.

“Shh. Hey, hey mate. Everything is alright, there is nothing to be scared about. We’re not your enemies, we’re your friends,” Butcher explained assuringly as he and Annie continued to take small steps toward the young man. The young man took a step back though hardly believing Butcher’s words as he suddenly placed his hands out which got Annie and Butcher on guard.

“Hey! Calm down, we are not here to hurt you. We want to help you. Just place your hands down and walk toward us slowly, alright?” Butcher ordered calmly as he and Annie stayed planted where they were and continued to watch the young man’s movements, both ready to attack if necessary.

The young man seemed to calm down a bit though as he placed his hands to his side and looked down. 

Butcher and Annie seemed to think they were in the clear when suddenly the young man snapped up and lifted his arms back up causing Butcher and Annie to fly to the ground and slide across the ground, with the van flipping continually until it was stopped right side up.

Without hesitation, Butcher sat back up and grabbed hold of his handgun, and shot three shots right into the Supe’s chest causing him to fall to the ground lifelessly.

Butcher growled as he stood up and dusted off the grass and mud that got on him as the young man pushed them back. Annie stood up as well when Butcher suddenly realized something. The van. Hughie was in that fucking van!

“Fuck, Hughie!” Butcher suddenly exclaimed causing Annie to sit up as well as they both ran to the van in fear for their friend who could be dead right now.

Annie ran up alongside Butcher who swung the van doors opened and scanned the back for any sign of his friend. The tall man then made his appearance and walked out slowly. He was alive and seemed fine for the most part with a few scratches on the head. Butcher then looked down and found a huge cut right in between his ribs and hips and pouring out blood. “Shit!” Butcher then blurted out as Hughie fell into his arms. Butcher placed Hughie on the ground softly as he heard groaning and whining noises from Hughie as he looked at Annie desperately unsure of what to do. 

“Oh my god, oh my god, Hughie, shit, we have to get him to the hospital!” Annie cried out as she looked up at Butcher. 

“We don’t have a fucking car, we need to leave the van here for when MM and them get out of there,” Butcher explained still staring at Hughie, the worried look in his eyes never leaving.

“But he’ll bleed out if we don’t stop the blood from gushing out of the wound within five minutes,” Annie exclaimed.

Butcher knew Annie was right and he did some quick thought process in his head as he then looked at Annie and asked, “Can’t you close up the wound with your heat powers or whatever?”

Annie looked at Butcher and took his comment to thought and realized that he could be right. “Maybe, but it won’t hold for very long and it’ll hurt like hell,” Annie replied.

Butcher then glared at the young woman. “What the fuck is a little pain compared to death? Hughie is fucking dying and I will kill you myself if you don’t do something about the fucking wound now!” Butcher threatened.

Annie was taken by surprise at Butcher suddenly snapping at her but she didn’t have time to think about it for she knew that he was right and nodded as she stood up along with Butcher who had Hughie’s arm wrapped around his shoulders.

Butcher dragged Hughie behind Annie as he watched her stop an incoming car and Butcher stayed behind as he let Annie do what she had to as he looked at his poor friend.

“Hughie, are you still with me?” Butcher asked.

Butcher heard a wince come from Hughie and he could tell that he could hardly hear him without zoning out. Butcher sighed as he continued, “I’m sorry for being an asshole to you alright? I was trying to block out my feelings for you and was trying to act like you hardly mattered to me when really I was just being a cunt. I need you to stay with me so we can help each other through this shit alright? ‘Cause I know this past week has not been any easier on you than it has on me. Just try,  _ try _ your fucking hardest to stay with me and stay through this, alright?”

There was no response and Butcher figured it was stupid to try and tell Hughie how he really felt in such a state like this since he could hardly hear him in the first place. When then, Butcher felt Hughie suddenly nudge into him closer and squeezed the hand Butcher was holding to help him stand upright. “Th-Thanks… thanks for…. th-that,” Hughie could hardly get out, but Butcher heard him and couldn’t help but smile helplessly a little which wasn’t like him to do. 

Hell, nothing Butcher had been doing this past week was  _ like  _ him to do. 

“I’ve got you,” Butcher whispered assuringly.

Just then, a not so pleased Annie walked toward them and sighed as she said, “I got the car…”

Butcher didn’t bother to ask why she was upset when he noticed the dead body on the ground of the man who most likely owned the car. Butcher hardly thought twice about it though as he walked past her holding Hughie along with him as he set him on the side of the car.

Annie walked up to them as Butcher lifted Hughie’s shirt a bit for Annie to close the wound as best she could for the time being. Butcher could tell Annie wasn’t joking about that it would hurt though because when she started Hughie winced loudly as his head nudged Butcher more with his eyes squeezed shut. Butcher held Hughie’s hip in place as he squeezed his hand to relax him and to remind him that he was still there with him.

When Annie finally stopped the bleeding she walked to the front of the car and announced that she was driving and Butcher didn’t have time for arguing for he wanted to sit in the back with Hughie anyway.

  
When they were all seated, Hughie was still completely zoned out and his head was resting on Butcher’s chest as the older man sighed as he rubbed his hand through his curls to relax both him and himself.

Butcher looked at Annie who was looking at through the rearview mirror and asked her what she wanted.

“I knew it,” she stated softly.

Butcher raised a brow. “Knew what?”

“That you cared about him.”

Butcher breathed out a chuckle as he locked eyes and asked, “And how are you so sure?”

Annie sighed. “The way you threatened me back there. Demanding I do whatever it took to save Hughie. I could tell you meant every word.”

"Well, I'm not one for making empty threats."

Annie shook her head. “You know what I mean.”

Butcher nodded though as he looked down at Hughie and realized yes. Yes, he did know what she meant.

  
~

Annie arrived at the hospital and both she and Butcher wrapped one of Hughie’s arms around their shoulders as they made their way into the ER.

“We need help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 10 will be out soon (a lot sooner than this) so thank you for reading and I hope you liked it.


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